Abstract
Recently, we have aimed to realize novel collagen/hydroxyapatite (HAp) composite materials, which have the optimally composed and layered microstructure, as artificial bone cartridges to bone defects by mimicking the real bone microstructures. In the present study, we investigated the effects of cross-linking degree and HAp deposition amount on tensile strength of collagen fibers. Collagen fibers were prepared by bio-inspire method, where fibrosis and cross-linking of collagen molecules are derived simultaneously. As the cross-linking agent, 1-ethy-3-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) was selected. As results, tensile strength of collagen fibers prepared under the EDC concentration of 5 mmol/L was twice higher than those prepared without addition of EDC. In addition, collagen/HAp fibers were prepared by biomimetic method. As results, tensile strength of collagen/HAp fibers dipping into calcium solution 300[s] and phosphorus 300[s] was about 1.3 times higher than dipping into calcium solution 30[s] and phosphorus 30[s]. These results suggested that the optimized condition of cross-linking degree and HAp deposition amount can realize maximum tensile strength of collagen fibers.
