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The growth of hydroxyapatite (HA) on self-assembled collagen gold nanoparticles is presented for the first time by employing wet chemistry at ambient conditions, and we obtained nearquantitative yields of composite. Transmission electron microscopy reveals that the gold nanoparticles are well dispersed with an average diameter of 4 nm, which was further supported by the strong surface plasmon band (SPB) at 527 nm in the UV-vis spectra. The band broadening, shifting and flattening after the addition of HA precursors suggests the formation of HA aggregates. FT-IR spectroscopy confirms that the characteristic functionalities of collagen are intact even after the conjugation with gold nanoparticles, which renders the formation of randomly aggregated quarter-moon-like HA. Microscopic and crystallographic study at this stage further confirms its crystallographic structure that the HA particles aligned with their crystallographic c-axes preferentially parallel to the orientation of collagen on the gold nanoparticles with an elemental composition resembling that of natural HA. The result showed that gold nanoparticles with collagen form an efficient matrix for the growth of HA and the mineralized collagen can be potentially applied in bone tissue repair and regeneration.

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A new biodegradable polymeric scaffold was prepared by using collagen and poly(caprolatctone) (PCL). These scaffolds were found to be soft, spongy, and transparent in nature and characterized by thermogravimetric analysis and FTIR spectrum. To these biodegradable polymeric scaffolds, antibiotic drugs namely amikacin and gentamycin were incorporated separately to study their release pattern from scaffolds. Amikacin and gentamycin release activity of the scaffolds containing a constant quantity of collagen but different quantities of PCL were studied at various time intervals viz. 1, 4, 24, and 48 h by measuring the optical density at 257 and 255 nm, respectively.

A series of biodegradable polymeric scaffolds was prepared by using a combination of natural (collagen) and synthetic (poly(caprolactone)) (PCL) polymers in various compositions. These scaffolds were soft, spongy, porous and transparent in nature and were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The entrapment efficiency and drug release activity of the scaffolds were analyzed using penicillin and tetracycline as antimicrobial drugs. The drug release activity of the scaffolds with various combinations of collagen and PCL were studied by measuring the optical density in a spectrophotometer at the following time intervals: 1, 4, 24, 48 and 60 h. These scaffolds showed better and continuous drug release for up to 60 h. Even after such a long duration, a portion of the drug remained entrapped in the scaffolds, indicating that they can be utilized for wound healing applications.