In this paper

a new method combines chemical/physical crosslinking

and emulsification-foaming porogenic was adopted to prepare

n

-hydroxyapatite (

n

-HA)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/chitosan (CS) porous composite hydrogel using artificial cornea scaffold materials. The fabricate conditions

including the type and amount of emulsification-foaming porogen

mixing time and speed etc. were researched. The results showed the optimal condition that the alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether (OP) acted as emulsification-foaming porogen

with the ratio of

W

PVA

/

W

OP

as 3.75

and mixing 15 min with a stirring speed of 800 r·min

-1

. Additionally

the fabricated composite hydrogel scaffold materials possessed interconnected internal holes

a moisture content of above 65%

and tensile strength of above 6 MPa.

In vitro

cytotoxicity and acute systemic toxicity assay confirmed that the scaffolds did not show any cytotoxicity. The as-prepared hydrogel could be a promising candidate for artificial cornea scaffold material.