Abstract
Biomaterials synthesized from natural resources have attracted plentitude of attention over the past few decades. Hydroxyapatite (HA) is one such biomaterial with excellent characteristics suitable for biomedical applications. In this study, HA is synthesized from carpa fish scales by calcination method. The HA particles were nanomilled for particle size reduction and these particles were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A novel forcespinning technique was used to fabricate microfibers from polycaprolactone (PCL) infused with synthesized HA. Thermomechanical properties of the PCL/HA fiber mats were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis and tensile tests. The analyses suggest that infusing HA in moderate quantities enhances the thermomechanical properties of composite fibers.
