3.1. GF and GF-CaP Coatings: Chemistry
In general, graphene oxide was prepared from graphite via two primary methods: (a) top-down method or (b) bottom-up manner. The most common top-down method is Hummer’s procedure which could generate a facile protocol for the production of oxidized graphenenano sheets with a better solution process-capacity. Many modified Hummer’s methods were developed for the past several decades to produce various nano size shapes or layers with an oxygenated contents [
121,
122,
123,
124,
125,
126]
Figure 2. The common procedure of Hummers’ process can be concluded as showed in and in which the graphite in a flake, powder or block form will be chemically exfoliated or oxidized into a nano layered structure, with an assistance of sonication, single or multi-layer oxidized graphene (Called as GO) could be obtained [
123,
124,
125,
126,
127,
128].This technique was also further modified by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite via applying an external electric field; it was regarded as a production of high-quality graphene oxide with fewer defects only in most of the Hummer’s techniques [
Figure 2b].Graphene was also synthesized from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method [
Figure 2c] and regarded as another representative top-down method, in this procedure, large graphene sheet with diverse sizes and layers can be achieved by applying copper alloy and silicon carbide as substrates [
129,
130]. Due to high conductivity and the fine structure, the CVD prepared graphene has been measured as the prime method for the production of graphene-based electronic devices. On the other hand, in the bottom-up production of graphene, one of the most thrilling methods is described by the research groups like Fasel and Mullen. These groups reported that atomically accurate graphene nanomaterials (GNMs) with various widths, edge periphery and topologies can be manufactured via surface-assisted polymerization and cyclodehydrogenation of specific precursors [
131]. They also reported that the similar bottom-up technique can be applied for the preparation of zigzag graphene nanomaterials (GNMs) with yielded atomically exact zigzag edges [
132,
133].
From the observation of graphene material’s chemical and physical properties, it can be divided into three types: (a) pristine graphene (b) graphene oxide (c) reduced graphene oxide. Pristine graphene is a thin layer of pure carbon i.e graphene produced by CVD via the exfoliation of graphite [
134]. Since these CVD derived graphene materials are having fine aromatic structural properties with a lower number of defects,
Figure 4., these graphene nanosheets are problematic to suspend in solutions and consequently not advantageous to use them as nanocarriers or nanomedicine. Conversely, their highly reactive edge surfaces make them feasibly fit for bioelectrodes, for an occasion, the detection of chemical molecules and to bioorganisms.GO is a hydrophilic oxidized structure of graphene or graphene layer has oxygen groups i.e carboxyl, epoxy and abundant hydroxyl groups, especially on its edges and defects as well as hydrophobic sp
2- and sp
3- bonded carbon atoms, hence bring into being a sheet-like amphiphilic colloid [
135].
GO can steadily suspend as amphiphilic colloids in an aqueous and many polar solvents through its hydrophilic groups. Because of the rich residual sp
2-bonded carbon environment on the GO basal plane, GO is gifted of π-π interactions with aromatic moieties. The polar functions, epoxide, hydroxyl and carboxyl acid, on basal plane allow GO to undergo weak or strong interactions with other substrate or organisms depends on their physical and chemical properties [
136].Reduced graphene oxide (rGO), (
Figure 2A,B) can be achieved by reduction of GO with several chemical, thermal and irradiation approaches. When compared to graphene or graphene oxide, rGO has abundant balanced physical and chemical properties, concerning to solvent dispersibility, thermal, surface chemical groups, optical, mechanical, and electrical performances [
137]. Based on the above facts of GF, several people prepared inorganic-based nanocomposites to improve the osteoinductive effect on hMSCs.Various techniques [
9,
12] could be explored to make these interesting materials (GF-CaP), which are summarized in (Table1). In several cases, GF-CaP biomaterials prepared in high temperature or high pressures have mechanical properties and high crystallinity, such as synthesis, spark plasma sintering and hot isostatic sintering. Nevertheless, thermal spraying methods typically lower the crystallinity of the HAp coating. HAp could be blended onto graphene and its derivatives and directly mixed together with the nanofillers by ball milling and ultrasonic dispersion.
In synthesis, rGO-coated BCP graft material was prepared using the BCP microparticles i.e mixture of HAp and β-TCP (3:7 by weight). The readily prepared rGO in DI water was subjected sonication for 2h, and then mixed together with BCP, suspended in DI water at rGO to the BCP weight ratios of 2:1000, 4:1000 and 10:1000. The rGO-coated BCP material was gained by robustly mixing colloidal diffusions of rGO and BCP microparticles for a while (10 min) and was slow air-dried at RT for overnight [
9]. Nano HAp particles are effectively fabricated on GO [
10,
12], chitosan modified [
12] GO and rGO surfaces [
9] using in situ synthesis approaches. Generally, as shown in
Figure 3, GF based powders [
12] are initially dissolved and exfoliated in deionized (DI) water by sonication to attain a uniform mixture; later Ca(NO
3)
2 is added into the GF based solutions by stirring for a preferred time; subsequently, the pH of the suspension is changed to 9-10 using ammonia solution, and (NH
4)
2HPO
4 was added into the mixture [
12]]. The SEM and TEM images of the physicochemical characteristics of rGO/HAp shown in the
Figure 4.
The subsequentcompound solutions are suggested to be aged for days to confirm the fully transformed apatite into hydroxyapatite with worthy phase purity as well as crystallinity. For the duration of the synthesis, the oxygen-containing functions on the GO surfaces act as receptor sites for Ca
2+via electrostatic interactions; where these anchored Ca
2+can in situ react with phosphate ions to get apatite nanoparticles. The essential reaction mechanism has been suggested by Li et al. [
12]; the spreading and the microstructures of HA on graphene are mostlyaffected the amounts and categories of the oxygen functions on the GF based templates and the concentration of the reagents (Ca
2+and HPO
4 2-), solution pH ranges and so on.
In an electrochemical deposition, HApwas involved in dissolving calcium/phosphate ions in a buffer solution with organized pH values and temperature underneathchanging electrical current [
138].Once the voltage is applied, Ca
2+will transfer to the surface of cathode due to electrostatic attraction and react with the OH
- therein generated by the electrolysis of water, subsequently in the in situ nucleation and growing of HAp on the surface of cathode [
139]. Zeng et al. [
140] fabricate GO/HApsurface coatings on Ti via this technique; GO was distributed and mixed with the electrolyte for deposition which containsCa (NO
3)
2, NaNO
3, NH
4H
2PO
4, and H
2O
2. The occasioning pure HA coating shows an irregular morphology with shell-like flakes, and the GO/HA complex coating displaysunbroken and porous topography. The upsurge of GO fillings in the electrolyte can increase the HAp crystallinity as well as the bonding strength of the coatings. On the other hand, the applications of HAp for hard tissue grafts are inadequate by the low mechanical strength of associated HAp [
141]. Throughout the conventional sintering procedure, HAp will separate into tri and tetra calcium phosphates at 1000
oC-1300
oC, and generally, the higher temperatures and long sintering time can reason grain coarsening performance, which may depreciate the mechanical properties [
141] of HAp. As the othertechnique, spark plasma sintering is an activemethod for making novel nanoceramics at lower temperatures for tiny periods of time, with the benefits of recollecting fine particle sizes. Graphene/HApnano composites are effectively fabricated by spark plasma sintering. The initial powders that are used for spark plasma sintering can be synthesized by mixing HAp powders/nanoparticles and GF sheets together using a mechanical milling [
142], sonication [
143,
144] and prepared by a liquid precipitation way [
145]. Different micrometer diameters of graphene are homogeneously dispersed and surrounded within the HAp matrix and situated between the HAp crystal particle boundaries without agglomerations.Characteristic SEMimages of the spark plasma sinteringsamples [
9,
144]were shown
Figure 5.
In the electrospinning technique, electrospinning pays an electrical field formed under high voltage to force out the polymeric liquid from the spinneret, causing in a polymeric fibrous and porous scaffolds on the collectors [
145]. Ma et al. [
146,
147] prepared a porous polylactic acid (PLA)/HAp/GO scaffold by using electrospinning technique and SEM images of the composite material were shown
Figure 6. In a self-assembling technique, GO offers a facile and effectiveprocess to produce GF-based macrostructures. As shown in
Figure 7A, grapheneoxide and HAp nanoparticles (nHAp) mixed together were sonically in ice bath which results in a homogeneous suspension, and later the mixture was heated at 200
oC for 3 h to prompt self-assembly [
148]. This method has reducedthe grapheneoxide to rGO without using any reductant substance and organic solvent, which could extremely decrease the cytotoxicity of the composite. The SEM morphology images and the EDS data clearly differentiated the substrate and desired final material (
Figure 7).The SEM images (
Figure 7A), revealed that the displayed scaffold was porous structure (diameter in range of 20–100 μm). It was also evidently observed that the amplified mass ratio of nHA could alter the morphology of scaffold. Thus, the mass ratio of nHA to GO was a significant parameter affecting scaffold assembly and should be well determined to ensure the good biocompatibility for bone defect repair [
148]. The spot EDS analysis (
Figure 7B) on SEM images presented that the amount of carbon element on the surface of scaffold reduced with the rise of nHA ratio, indicating that nHA was integrated on the surface of graphene nano sheets [
148]. Thermal sprayed HAp and HAp-based coatings have been fruitfully used on commercially accessible Ti-based orthopedic grafts, having the benefit of high deposition rate, decent bonding strength and adjustable coating thickness [
149]. This procedure contains, heating the HA powders to melting stage at high temperature, which may reason for the breakdown of HA and show detrimental properties on the coating biocompatibilities. Consequently, other reports [
150] alteredvacuum cold spraying as a substitute to prepare GF/ HAp nanostructured coatings at RT [
150]. The GF/ HAp powder material is made by wet chemical method, and the sprayed coatings have a measurable thickness and showmodestpasty strength and fracture toughness, with graphene uniformly embedded in HAp matrix [
150]. The FESEM and TEM images of the coating [
150] were shown in
Figure 8.Three dimensional (3D) printing is a greater additive manufacturing system to print scaffold with tailored shape, precise chemistry and porosities and displays great potential for its application in bone tissue biomedical engineering [
151]. Even though bone has self-healing capabilities, the heavy bone loss or injury cannot be restored totally and naturally. A matrix or scaffold materials should be incorporated to support this healing course. Ch.Wu et al. [
152] manufactured GO surface modified β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) frameworks by,first using 3D printingtechnique and then soaked the β-TCP framework into GO/water suspension for the developments of in vivo osteogenesis.
Chemical vapor deposition is a cost-effective and scalable performance to prepare GF films [
153]. Novel biocompatible and multicomponent graphene/HA/Au nanomaterials are prepared by using radio-frequency chemical vapor deposition, with methane and acetyleneas the carbon sources [
154]. Throughout the deposition procedure, Au nanoclusters are consistentlyspread over HAp particles with diameters of 2 nm to 7 nm and behave as catalyst for graphene manufacture [
154]. This research specifies that longer radio-frequency chemical vapor deposition time can conclude in few-layers graphene with greater [
154].
Hot isostatic pressing is a common method to densify presintered constituents, consolidate powders and increase interfacial bonding [
155]. It can be demoralized to make HAp ceramics with ultrafine microstructures and knowingly better mechanical possessions [
155]. In recent times, graphene is familiarized into this classification as an operative additive for toughening ceramics composites; Novel graphene/nickel-doped biphasic calcium phosphate composite [
156], graphene/biphasic calcium phosphate complex [
157], and rGO/nanotube HAp composite [
158] have been effectively designed by using hot isostatic pressing technique.
Biomimetic mineralization is an environmental benign technique to prepare bone-like apatite underneath ambient conditions in aqueous locations. Generally, GFs are dipped in an unstable or supersaturated solution with calcium and phosphate ions their concentrations parallel to replicated physiological condition, and apatite was driven as nucleated and precipitate on the surface of those GF-based biomaterials. In the process of mineralization, GO greatly enrich the nucleation and crystallization of HAp, resulting in hybrid uniform GO/HAp coatings with densify fine flake-like HAp nanocrystalline [
159]. Typically, GFs are surface modified by bioactive materials to provide the complex with new properties and assist the biomimetic deposition of HAp. The GO can be altered by gelatin to mimic the electrifying proteins in an extracellular matrix (ECM) for a modifiable bone generation, and the existence of gelatin develops the attraction of calcium ions and encourages the nucleation of HAp [
160]. As well, GO can also biofunctionalizedby polydopamine [
161], carrageenan [
162], chitosan [
163,
164] and fibrinogen [
165] to increase the mineralization route.
Table 1 show, the most usually used biomaterial composites, nano HAp particles, synthetic polymers and nanoparticles that have been used to get the GF-CaP with worthy biocompatibility and useful biofunctionality. Due to the diverse and exceptional physicochemical and biological properties of GF-CaP, it is supposedto suggest that they can displayplentifuldetailed interactions with tissues, for an example the GF-CaPcombined interface can deliver a more promising microenvironment for cell proliferation and attachment.
3.2. GF-CaP Biointeractions and Effects
Understanding the effect of GF-CaP composites on GF-CaP–cell interaction is essential for considering GF-CaP as a potential candidate for bone tissue engineering [
9]. Due to the large specific surface area, good obtainability of functional chemical groups, and exceptional interface properties, the GF-CaP possess extremely great dimensions for bimolecular interactions in evaluation to various other nanomaterials. Recently, biocompatibility of few layers of GF films conveyed to various substrates was evaluated using osteoblasts [
166]. The substrates were oxidized soda lime glass, silicon wafer (SiO
2/Si stack) and stainless steel. Chemical vapor deposition technique was employed to produce GFs on a copper substrate by using hydrogen and methane as precursors [
166]. The thickness and quality of GF films on dissimilar substrates were assessed by Raman spectra, while the thickness of GF film was defined by reflectance and transmittance spectroscopy. These studies were also focused on cell attachment as well as morphology and shown that graphene does not have any kind of toxic effect on osteoblasts [
166]. The cell adhesion increases with graphene coated material rather than the substrate alone [
9,
166]. It appears that GF properties play a leading role in cell adhesion. This study also suggests that layers of GF on bone grafts will be useful for osteoblast attachment and proliferation. Bi et al. have described that the grapheneoxide-calcium phosphate (GO-CaP) nanocomposites notably helped the osteogenesis of hMSCs with enhanced deposition of calcium, which assists their hopeful future in bone repair [
167]. For the bone defect repair. S. Wang et al. reported a ɑ-tricalcium phosphate (ɑ-TCP) based reduced graphene oxide carbon nanotube cement recently and in which rGO could increase the mechanical assets of calcium phosphate cement effectively with the addition of 0–1 wt% [
168]. Chengtie Wu et al. prepared that GO-blended β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) biomaterials and proved it in the enhanced osteogenic ability of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) instead of pure β-TCP samples both in vitro and in vivo [
152]. These scaffolds suggestively improved the activity of alkaline phosphatase. growth and osteogenic gene behaviour compared to the bare β-TCP. The rGO hybridized HAp composites also displayed greater osteogenic differentiation for hMSCs [
34]. Jong Ho Lee et al. demonstrated that rGO-hydroxyapatite composites by adding the 1:1 weight ratio of colloidal dispersion nano particles of rGO with suspended hydroxyapatite (water soluble calcium phosphate) microparticles in DI water, which was enhanced the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs, when incubated in basal media without any osteoinductive agents [
10,
34]. In addition the above mentioned nano-sized, functionalized graphene (surface-coated) derivatives, GF coated nanomaterials can also exhibit physicochemical properties as graphene or GO in several ways i.e good biocompatibility, versatile biofunctionality, due to the distinctive and extraordinary specific surface area of 2D planar nanosheet structure, great availability of surface functions, electrical conductivity and mechanical properties [
152]. Owing to the diverse and excellent physicochemical and biological properties of GF-coated nanomaterials, it is believed that they can exhibit abundant error-free interactions with proteins, human cells, bacterial and tissues, for instance, the GF-CaP interface can offer a more promising and favorable microenvironment for cell attachment and proliferation. Thus, it is of great prominence to understand these irreplaceable interactions with bioorganisms like stem cells and microbials while we study the biological applications of GF-CaP nanomaterial architectures on bone repair research.
Y.C. Shin et al. group demonstrated that rGO/HAp composites synergistically improved the osteogenic differentiation of the preosteoblasts and confirmed the fact by defining alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization of calcium and phosphate as early and late stage markers of the osteogenic differentiation [
169]. Y.C. Shin et al. also stated that the hydroxyl groups of the HAp microparticles and oxygenated functions (e.g., epoxy, hydroxyl, carboxyl, and carbonyl functions) of the rGO could able to contribute the stronger adhesion or interconnections in
Figure 9A,between HAp microparticles and rGO nanosheets.So, it is evidenced that the rGO/HAp composites can preserve their assembly in the culture media and are stable underneath cell culture condition. He also revealed that rGO/HAp composites prompted significant osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts with the associated formation of mineralized nodules from von Kossa staining results (
Figure 9B).Von Kossa staining was not noticed in the control cultures without any other composites or particles. This observation of Y.C shin, suggest that the late stage marker of osteogenic differentiation was increased by the synergistic effect of rGO/HAp microparticles in absence of osteogenic factors [
34,
170]. This observation is also consistent with the recent reports i.e gelatinfunctionalized GO could becapably used for the biomimetic mineralization of HAp, leading to support the osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts [
171]. Furthermore, the rGOincorporated substrata were found to be managing to efficiently increase the osteogenic differentiation by supporting cell-cell interaction or cell-substrata [
167,
172]. An illustration of the GF-CaP fabrication and its osteogenesis process has been displayed in (
Figure 9C) [
167]
Chengtie Wu et al. proved that 3D printed β-TCP scaffolds are highly porous materials with a homogeneously large pore structure (nearly 500 μm, (
Figure 10a)), and the pore walls cover some micropores of 2μm size(
Figure 10a) large pore structure (
Figure 10b) for the GO to cover whole pore-wall surface of scaffolds (
Figure 10e). Which in turn shows that GO coating β-TCP disks have brilliant apatite mineralization ability (
Figure 10f–h), while pure β-TCP does not keep this facility (
Figure 10c) and the GO coating β-TCP contain Ca/P ratio of 1.54 (
Figure 10g).Thus it is noteworthy to speculate that the enhanced apatite mineralization of this scaffoldoffersnegative chemical groups too from GO, such as COO
-, for nucleation and crystallization of Ca/P ions in simulated body fluids [
173]. Ch.Wu anticipated that the above mentioned features and observations are the main reasons for the nanostructured GO coating β-TCP could improve the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of osteoblasts [
152]. GO coating β-TCP bioceramics suggestively encourages the bone defect repairs with the characteristic cell proliferation, osteogenic gene expression of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) by motivating in vitro osteostimulation property. (
Figure 11d) indicates hBMSCs on GO-coated β-TCP bioceramics grow healthier with higher cell density rather than on just β-TCP disks within short span.This research group also verified the ionic environment of cell culture media with β-TCP and on GO-coated β-TCP bioceramics and concluded that there was no obvious difference about the released Ca concentrations even though P concentrations are somewhat different in β-TCP and GO-coated β-TCP bioceramics, specifying that modification of GO did not muchaffect the ionic dissolution of β-TCP bioceramics. They havebeen suggested that GO coating itself shows an important role in attracting or increasing the osteogenic differentiation of hBMSCs. Even though there are no research reports on why grapheneoxide has a positive influence on the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells, this research group speculated that the bioactive functions in GO, such as COO and OH, might be one of the key factors to straightaway effect cell differentiation through activating the Wnt-related signaling pathway of stem cells. In agreement with this speculation, the previous reportsexhibited that GO can deliver therapeutic via hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions [
9,
12,
34]. In addition, Chengtie Wu et al. explained that the GO coating on β-TCP ceramics may also adsorb higher number of proteins from the cell culture media, which additionally increases cell response. Many researchers over the world also have raised attention in the mechanism of interaction of GFs with stem cells, which could contribute to increase in vitro osteogenesis.
Jong Ho Lee et al., reported that the rGO/ Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposites could improve the osteogenesis of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts and help new bone formation. The combined HAp, rGO synergistically supportedand encourages the natural osteodifferentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells without any hindering of their cell proliferation [
10]. The boosted osteogenesis (
Figure 12A) was validated from the determination of alkaline phosphatase activity, Alizarin red staining (
Figure 12B), Von Kossa staining (
Figure 12C) [
10], and Immunoblotting effects (
Figure 12D) [
169]. The surface adsorption of various oxygenatedfunctions presented in the rGO/hydroxyapatite nanocomposites show better cell compatibility and enhanced biofunctionalities for diverse applications.As one of the matrix mineralization markers, the expression of OCN was calculated by an immunoblot analysis (
Figure 12D), which was corroborated that the matrix was developed via extracellular calcium deposition as displayed above. Once completed 21 days of incubation, the expression level of OCN in MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts was tremendously (
p < 0.05) improved by rGO/HAp composites (
Figure 12D
B) [
169].
Rameshwar Tatavartyet al [
167] hypothesized that combining GO with an osteoinductive material can synergistically manage the differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) headed for osteogenic lineage. Calcium phosphates (CaP) such as HAp are biomimetic composites that are well-recognized to facilitate the bone formation (osteoconductivity) and to ease osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs (osteoinductivity).However, they prepared the GO-CaP to validate this hypothesis for the osteogenesis and proved that the osteogenic differentiation of the hMSCs via immunofluorescence staining of osteoblast markers ALP and osteocalcin as in
Figure 13 and
Figure 14. It has been mostly hypothesized that the surface features of GF nanomaterials such as surface stiffness, nanotopography and large absorption abilityaffect the molecular paths that regulate the destiny of stem cells [
174]. Graphene and grapheneoxide were acting as preconcentrators for chemicals, proteins as well as growth factors on their surface to raise cell differentiation [
175]. In GO/CaP, GO surface was generallyshielded by CaP nanoparticles, thereforeunapproachable for direct absorption of molecules. The enriched differentiation may in part have got up from the enhanced interaction between the CaP structure on GO–CaP surface and the intracellular focal adhesion centers of the cells [
164]. Moreover, with the incorporation of GO and CaP, GO–CaP biomaterialdemonstratedthe greater stiffness to GO or CaP alone [
176]. Such rise in material stiffness could prompt an increasedmechanotransduction effect which has been acknowledged tocontrol stem cell differentiation and thus might payto the synergistic improvement in osteogenesis [
177].
As reported earlier [
178], GFs and their derivates consent the attachment of stem cells and stimulate their development and their differentiation to the osteogenic lineage.GO surfaces could be possibly used as delivery transporters for proteins. This probability is supported by the specifics of GO sheets which holds hydrophobic л domains in the core area and ionized functions around the edges of GO. These characteristics significantly increase its interactions with proteins with hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions even in GF-CaP [
9]. Previous studies have stated that osteoblasts adhered well and proliferated on the surface of rGO- or GF-HAp hybrid nanomaterials, which proposes that these composites induce 3D adhesion of osteoblast cells and continue cell viability by giving microenvironment alike to that found in vivo [
179,
180,
181]. ζ potential of rGO-coated BCP composite having stable surface and surface charge of -14.43 mV, which specified rGO-coated BCP bone graft material was designed by electrostatic interactions between BCP and rGO. [
9] and this feature of GO-BCP helps on cell growth. The cell growth is also mainly dependent on its structure, size, and concentration.Jeong-Woo Kim et al. demonstrated that the cell viability was decreased at rGO concentrations >100 μg/mL, but was sustained above 80% at concentrations <62.5 μg/mL. Thus he suggested from his results, rGO has no harmful properties and it is a non-cytotoxic at concentrations <62.5 μg/mL [
9].
On the other hand, J.H.Lee demonstrated that the osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs was improved by rGO-coated HAp nanomaterials when incubated in basal media in absence of osteoinductive agents. Moreover, he also stated that the osteogenic action mediated by rGO-coated HAp nanocomposites was further increasedwhile cells were cultured in osteogenic medium. An initial coverage of cells to a colloidal dispersion of rGO-HAp material and consequently increased contact with these composites, which in turn enabled intracellular signalling, may proposed as a feasible explanation. However, his results are not clearly proved the mechanism, involved in intracellular signalling pathways. However, his studies supported the rGO-coated HAp composites could be potent factors in helping the spontaneous osteogenic differentiation of osteoprogenitor cells. Thus these rGO-HAp materials might be potential candidates for scaffolds in bone tissue engineering, stimulators for stem cell differentiation and constituents of implantable expedients, due to their biocompatible and bioactive assets [
34].