The Effect of Silver Nitrate Addition on Antibacterial Properties of Bone Scaffold Chitosan-Hydroxyapatite.

Due to a high number of bone fracture cases in Indonesia, the development of bone scaffold is becoming a solution to improve damaged bone structure. In bone scaffold fabrication, several parameters must be met such as morphology, pore size, and antibacterial properties. One of the antibacterial agents that can be used for the bone scaffold is silver nitrate (AgNO3). In this study AgNO3 with various concentrations (0.005, 0.01, 0.02, and 0.1 M) was added in HA-chitosan bone scaffold that was synthesized via freeze drying process. The synthesis resulted in bone scaffolds in the form of an interconnected porous structure. In this study, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), and antibacterial test were carried out. SEM-EDX results showed porous morphology with an average size of 68.32 µm in bone scaffold without AgNO3 and 16.66 µm in the bone scaffold with the addition of AgNO3. Antibacterial testing showed that the higher the concentration of silver nitrate used, the greater the diameter of the inhibitory zone produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]