Fabrication and Characterization of Willemite Scaffolds Using Corn Stalk as a Novel Bio Template for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

In this paper, we used Corn Stalk (CS) as a renewable and economical bio template to fabricate willemite scaffolds with the potential application in skull bone repair. CS was used as a sacrificial template to synthesize the scaffolds. Willemite scaffolds with the chemical formula of Zn₂SiO₄ and pore size in the range of 3 to 10 µm could be successfully synthesized by soaking CS in the willemite solution for 24 h and sintering at 950 °C for 5 h. The porosity of the samples was controlled by the soaking time (between 12 and 48 h) in the willemite solution from 5 to 35%, respectively. The properties of these scaffolds showed a good approximation with cranial bone tissue. In addition, cytotoxicity assays (MTT) were performed on Human Bone Marrow Stromal cells (HBMSc) and A172 human glioblastoma cell lines by direct and indirect culture methods to estimate their toxicity for bone and nerve cells, respectively. Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity and DAPI/Phalloidin cell staining were also performed to investigate the efficiency of the scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. The results showed that the scaffolds had good biocompatibility with both HBMSC and A172 cells, noticeable improvement on ALP activity, and great apatite formation ability in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF). All the evidence ascertained that willemite scaffolds made by corn stalks could be a useful candidate for bone tissue engineering applications.