1370 Development and Characterization of Poly (methyl methacrylate) / Hydroxyapatite Bio-composites Treated with Antimicrobial Agent as a Bone Analogue Material

In the field of bone tissue engineering, biocomposite materials that stimulate and promote the regeneration of broken bones tissues have become the focus of recent research. This research aims to fabricate a biocomposite material of PMMA and hydroxyapatite (HA) combined with various concentrations of curcumin and EGDMA for bone tissue scaffold engineering. A characterization of the fabricated samples was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), as well as mechanical properties to measure the tensile fracture and compressive strength of the samples. In order to develop antibacterial biomaterials for effective treatment and prevention of osteomyelitis, two typical strains of bacteria that cause osteomyelitis, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, were tested using an agar diffusion assay. Our results strongly indicate that the combination of HA and curcumin nanoparticles into PMMA polymer matrix with reinforced EGDMA for the production of biocomposite scaffolds offer significant potential for bone tissue applications, potentially improving their performance and effectiveness. In addition to the mechanical and morphological properties of the biocomposite (PMMA/HA/Curcumin), the composite had excellent antibacterial activity for the growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, which offers the potential for the application of the composite in bone tissue engineering applications.