Fabrication, Properties, and Biomedical Applications of Calcium-Containing Cellulose-Based Composites

Abstract

Calcium-containing cellulose-based composites possess the advantages of high mechanical strength, excellent osteoconductivity, biocompatibility, biodegradation, and bioactivity, which represent a promising application system in the biomedical field. Calcium-containing cellulose-based composites have become the hotspot of study of various biomedical fields. In this mini-review article, the synthesis of calcium-containing cellulose-based composites is summarized via a variety of methods such as the biomimetic mineralization method, microwave method, co-precipitation method, hydrothermal method, freeze-drying method, mechanochemical reaction method, and ultrasound method. The development on the fabrication, properties, and applications of calcium-containing cellulose-based composites is highlighted. The as-existed problems and future developments of cellulose-based composites are provided. It is expected that calcium-containing cellulose-based composites are the ideal candidate for biomedical application.

Keywords: biomedical application; calcium carbonate; cellulose; composites; hydroxyapatite.

FIGURE 1

Distributions of ions in the modeling cell: (A) in the initial state, (B) in 12 ns, and (C) at the end (100 ns) of simulation. Red balls-O atoms, cyan balls-Ca²⁺ ions, yellow balls-P atoms, white balls-H atoms, green balls-cellulose atoms (Lukasheva and Tolmachev, 2016).

FIGURE 2

The SEM images of (A) spherical CaCO₃ microparticles. The inset: details of the CaCO₃ surface. (B) Cross-section of CaCO₃ (AP/CNF)₅AP/XyG microparticles, and (C) is a higher magnification of (B). The red arrow points to the surface morphology of CaCO₃ microparticles. The white arrows point to the AP/CNF multilayer. (D) The SEM image of (AP/CNF)₅AP/XyG microcapsules after core removal (Paulraj et al., 2017).

FIGURE 3

(A) Schematic illustration for the preparation of CaCO₃ microspheres and drug loading and release procedures, (B) The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of the hollow cellulose-based NPs (DACws after aging for 10 days at 60 °C) and the corresponding magnification diagram (inset), (C) the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image of the hollow cellulose-based NPs, (D) the SEM image of CaCO₃ microspheres with hollow cellulose-based NPs as the template, (E) the corresponding enlarged image of the CaCO₃ microspheres, (F) the corresponding energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) pattern of the particles, and (G) the corresponding N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherm and pore size distribution (inset) of CaCO₃ microspheres (Yan et al., 2019).

FIGURE 4

In the experimental design of this study, hydroxyl-rich cellulose molecule chains capture free Ca²⁺ to initiate the nucleation of HAp. (A) Schematic diagram of the formation of HAp accompanying the production of cellulose by (A) x. (B) The representative SEM image of cellulose nanofibers secreted by bacterial cells. (C) The representative TEM image of cellulose nanofibers secreted by bacterial cells. (D) The representative TEM image of the BC@HAp composite was obtained under biological metabolism conditions. (Chen et al., 2021).