Homogeneous chitosan-silk fibroin/hydroxyapatite (CS-SF/HA) composites were prepared by

in situ

precipitation method driven by a multiple-order template. The morphology of the composites was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The compositional analysis was carried out by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The mechanical properties and biocompatibility of the composites were also determined. The results indicated that the inorganic particles of uniform size (50 nm) were well-dispersed among the CS-SF matrices. The compressive modulus of the CS-SF/HA composites was enhanced with the increasing amount of SF. The

in vitro

results suggested that the MC3T3-E1 osteoblast-like cells on CS-SF/HA composite disks displayed strong bonding and spreading

and the cell proliferation cultured on each composite disk increased throughout the culture period for up to 7 days. Especially

the samples with higher content of SF had much better biological properties. The evidences proved that the CS-SF/HA composites possessed excellent biocompatibility. By using the freeze-drying technique

hierarchical porous scaffolds with pores ranging from 50 μm to 200 μm were obtained. This work presented the advantages of

in situ

precipitation method to prepare the organic/inorganic composites

and a multiple-order template was introduced in the system to improve the properties of the composites by combining the merits of each organic template.