Development of Bioactive Bioglass scaffolds coated with iron-loaded hydroxyapatite nanocomposites as potential biomaterials for bone tissue repair

MARIA LAURA DITTLER; MONICA GONZALEZ; ALDO R. BOCCACCINI

Erlangen

Workshop; 7th KMM-VIN Industrial Workshop (IW7) ?Biomaterials: Key Technologies for Better Healthcare?; 2017

The major calcium phosphate (CaP) component of bone is not a chemically homogenous material. In vivo bone apatite efficiently exchange Ca2+ and PO43- ions with CO32-, F-, Mg2+, Na+, and K+ ions present in physiological fluids, which are believed to be one of the reasons for its biological response. In literature is well known that ion substitution strategies improve the physicochemical and biological response of synthetic hydroxyapatite. Lately, the design of bioactive glasses scaffolds has also gained much interest in tissue engineering. The goal of this study is to obtain Bioglass 45S5® Scaffolds (BGS) coated with magnetic Fe-containing hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (Fe-nHAp). BGS were obtained by the foam replica technique [1]. Formation of Fe-nHAp surface films were produced by dip-coating for ten minutes in a 5 mg/ml Fe-nHAp suspension. The presence of iron on the surface was confirmed by EDX, magnetic susceptibility and by MP-AES. The microstructure and porosity of the scaffolds were observed by SEM and surface functional groups characterized by FTIR. Mineralization assays were performed to evaluate the material bioactivity.The obtained evidence indicates that BGS were effectively coated with Fe-nHAp. Immersion of Fe-nHAp-covered BGS in simulated body fluid (SBF) lead to the formation of CaP cauliflower structures observed by SEM and similar to those formed by bare BGS under identical conditions, thus sustaining the bioactivity of the novel Fe-nHAp-covered BGS.