title: Mesoporous bioactive scaffolds prepared with cerium-, gallium- and zinc-containing glasses.
abstract: Mesoporous bioactive glass scaffolds (MBG_Scs), based on 80% SiO(2)-15% CaO-5% P(2)O(5) (in mol.%) mesoporous sol-gel glasses substituted with Ce(2)O(3), Ga(2)O(3) (both 0.2% or 1.0%) and ZnO (0.4% or 2.0%), were synthesized by combination of evaporation-induced self-assembly and rapid prototyping techniques. Cerium, gallium and zinc trace elements were selected because of their inherent beneficial biological properties. Fabricated scaffolds were characterized and compared with unsubstituted scaffold (B_Sc). All of them contained well interconnected ultralarge pores (pores >400 μm) ideal for vascular ingrowth and proliferation of cells. Macropores of size 100-400 μm were present inside the scaffolds. In addition, low-angle X-ray diffraction showed that B_Sc and scaffolds with substituent contents up to 0.4% exhibited ordered mesoporosity useful for hosting molecules with biological activity. The textural properties of B_Sc were a surface area of 398 m(2) g(-1), a pore diameter of 4.3 nm and a pore volume of 0.43 cm(3) g(-1). A slight decrease in surface area and pore volume was observed upon substitution with no distinct effect on pore diameter. In addition, all the MBG_Scs except 2.0% ZnO_Sc showed quite quick in vitro bioactive response. Hence, the present study is a positive addition to ongoing research into preparing bone tissue engineering scaffolds from bioceramics containing elements of therapeutic significance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Shruti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shruti
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.forename: Gigliola
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lusvardi
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Malavasi
authors.forename: Ledi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Menabue
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vallet-Regi
mesh_terms: D002563:Cerium; D005708:Gallium; D005898:Glass; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D033362:Powder Diffraction; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D015032:Zinc
chemical_list: D002563:Cerium; D005708:Gallium; D015032:Zinc