Abstract: The polylactic acid (PLA) and polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite whisker (HAw) composite porous scaffolds were fabricated through the solvent casting/vacuum evaporation/particle leaching method,using the sodium chloride as pore former,the chloroform as solvent.The surface morphology of polylactic acid are characterized by the SEM photographs.The XRD,SEM and Fr-IR,etc are employed to examine the composite morphology and structure characteristics of the polylactic acid with different quantity of HAw.Besides,we study the effect of the hydroxyapatite whisker contents on the hole structure parameters,mechanical properties and biological performance of the scaffolds material.The results reveal that the pore size and porosity of the scaffold can be controlled by the size and amount of the sodium chloride.The PLA/HAw series show the uniform structure,high porosity and good pore connectivity.The porosity of PLA/HAw composite porous scaffold ranges from 83.94; to 91.08;,which could meet the requirements of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.The compressive strength of composite porous scaffolds is 5.72-12.73 MPa.Furthermore,the compressive strength reaches the maximum value of 12.73 MPa in 10; HAw/PLA.

Key words: The polylactic acid (PLA) and polylactic acid/hydroxyapatite whisker (HAw) composite porous scaffolds were fabricated through the solvent casting/vacuum evaporation/particle leaching method,using the sodium chloride as pore former,the chloroform as solvent.The surface morphology of polylactic acid are characterized by the SEM photographs.The XRD,SEM and Fr-IR,etc are employed to examine the composite morphology and structure characteristics of the polylactic acid with different quantity of HAw.Besides,we study the effect of the hydroxyapatite whisker contents on the hole structure parameters,mechanical properties and biological performance of the scaffolds material.The results reveal that the pore size and porosity of the scaffold can be controlled by the size and amount of the sodium chloride.The PLA/HAw series show the uniform structure,high porosity and good pore connectivity.The porosity of PLA/HAw composite porous scaffold ranges from 83.94; to 91.08;,which could meet the requirements of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.The compressive strength of composite porous scaffolds is 5.72-12.73 MPa.Furthermore,the compressive strength reaches the maximum value of 12.73 MPa in 10; HAw/PLA.