Facile modification of polycaprolactone nanofibers with hydroxyapatite doped with thallium ions for wound and mucosal healing applications

The design of biomaterials for wound and mucosal healing is pivotal to keep a high level of health care. Scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL) encapsulated with hydroxyapatite that has been modified via different contributions of thallium (Tl) ions having the formula of [Tl2xCa10-x(PO4)6-x(OH)2] have been fabricated. The obtained results showed that the maximum height of the roughness (Rt) of the fabricated Tl-HAP@PCL nanofiber has increased from 612 to 819 nm, depending on the content of Tl+ ions. Moreover, the contact angle exhibited a significant decrease from 97.21° at 0.0Tl-HAP@PCL to 29.01° for 1.0Tl-HAP@PCL. Importantly, mechanical properties measurements' showed that the maximum strain at the break has deteriorated from 131.7 ± 4.3 to 129.31 ± 4.6% for the lowest and the highest Tl contribution. The scaffolds’ performance in a wound and mucosal treatments might be triggered upon the development of cell viability. In view of these findings, the fabricated Tl-HAP@PCL composites have evidently an efficient wound dressing capability and cell viability that make these nanofibers promising candidates for other related medical/clinical applications.