title: Hydrogel/bioactive glass composites for bone regeneration applications: synthesis and characterisation.
abstract: Due to the deficiencies of current commercially available biological bone grafts, alternative bone graft substitutes have come to the forefront of tissue engineering in recent times. The main challenge for scientists in manufacturing bone graft substitutes is to obtain a scaffold that has sufficient mechanical strength and bioactive properties to promote formation of new tissue. The ability to synthesise hydrogel based composite scaffolds using photopolymerisation has been demonstrated in this study. The prepared hydrogel based composites were characterised using techniques including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), rheological studies and compression testing. In addition, gel fraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), porosity and swelling studies of the composites were carried out. It was found that these novel hydrogel bioglass composite formulations did not display the inherent brittleness that is typically associated with bioactive glass based bone graft materials and exhibited enhanced biomechanical properties compared to the polyethylene glycol hydrogel scaffolds along. Together, the combination of enhanced mechanical properties and the deposition of apatite on the surface of these hydrogel based composites make them an ideal candidate as bone graft substitutes in cancellous bone defects or low load bearing applications.
authors.affiliation: Materials Research Institute, Athlone Institute of Technology, Dublin Rd, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. jkillion@research.ait.ie
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Killion
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kehoe
authors.forename: Luke M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Geever
authors.forename: Declan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Devine
authors.forename: Eoin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sheehan
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: Clement L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Higginbotham
mesh_terms: D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000187:drug effects; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008027:Light; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D058105:Polymerization / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D016062:Porosity; D012212:Rheology / Q000187:drug effects; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: C586531:SrO-Na2O-CaO-ZnO-SiO2 bioactive glass; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate
keywords: Bioactive glasses; Biomineralisation; Hydrogels; Mechanical properties