Bone tissue engineering application of 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane functionalized Au/Ag bimetallic nanoparticles incorporated hydroxyapatite bioceramic

Despite having excellent osteoconductivity and biocompatibility, hydroxyapatite (HA) exhibits inadequate mechanical properties and bacterial susceptibility, which limits its medical applications. The present study aims to fabricate 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (3-APTMS) functionalized gold (Au)-silver (Ag) nanoparticles incorporated in hydroxyapatite bioceramics to overcome this limitation. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-Ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were carried out to understand the physical and chemical characteristics of the material. The maximum values of fracture toughness, hardness, compressive and flexural strength were measured for HA-10 Au/Ag NPs. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of antibacterial behavior revealed that the adhesion of gram-positive (Staphylococcu aureus) and gram-negative (Eschericia coli) bacterial cells were reduced significantly after the incorporation of Au/Ag NPs as compared with the HA control. In addition, the effect of Au/Ag NPs incorporation on the cellular response was observed for the MG63 cell line. Both the quantitative and qualitative results indicate significantly enhanced cell proliferation with the incorporation of Au/Ag NPs as compared to HA. The addition of Au/Ag NPs in HA provides a material with appropriate mechanical, antibacterial, and cellular responses for further consideration.