Ce/Sm/Sr-Incorporating Ceramic Scaffolds Obtained via Sol-Gel Route.

Three different inorganic scaffolds were obtained starting from the oxide system SiO2‒P2O5‒CaO‒MgO, to which Ce4+/Sm3+/Sr2+ cations were added in order to propose novel materials with potential application in the field of hard tissue engineering. Knowing the beneficial effects of each element, improved features in terms of mechanical properties, antibacterial activity and cellular response are expected. The compositions were processed in the form of scaffolds by a common sol-gel method, followed by a thermal treatment at 1000 and 1200 °C. The obtained samples were characterized from thermal, compositional, morphological and mechanical point of view. It was shown that each supplementary component triggers the modification of the crystalline phase composition, as well as microstructural details. Moreover, the shrinkage behavior is well correlated with the attained compression strength values. Sm was proven to be the best choice, since in addition to a superior mechanical resistance, a clear beneficial influence on the viability of 3T3 fibroblast cell line was observed.

Composite Fiber Networks Based on Polycaprolactone and Bioactive Glass-Ceramics for Tissue Engineering Applications.

In this work, composite fibers connected in three-dimensional porous scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning, starting from polycaprolactone and inorganic powders synthesized by the sol-gel method. The aim was to obtain materials dedicated to the field of bone regeneration, with controllable properties of bioresorbability and bioactivity. The employed powders were nanometric and of a glass-ceramic type, a fact that constitutes the premise of a potential attachment to living tissue in the physiological environment. The morphological characterization performed on the composite materials validated both the fibrous character and oxide powder distribution within the polymer matrix. Regarding the biological evaluation, the period of immersion in simulated body fluid led to the initiation of polymer degradation and a slight mineralization of the embedded particles, while the osteoblast cells cultured in the presence of these scaffolds revealed a spatial distribution at different depths and a primary networking tendency, based on the composites' geometrical and dimensional features.

PCL-ZnO/TiO2/HAp Electrospun Composite Fibers with Applications in Tissue Engineering.

The main objective of the tissue engineering field is to regenerate the damaged parts of the body by developing biological substitutes that maintain, restore, or improve original tissue function. In this context, by using the electrospinning technique, composite scaffolds based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and inorganic powders were successfully obtained, namely: zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO2) and hydroxyapatite (HAp). The novelty of this approach consists in the production of fibrous membranes based on a biodegradable polymer and loaded with different types of mineral powders, each of them having a particular function in the resulting composite. Subsequently, the precursor powders and the resulting composite materials were characterized by the structural and morphological point of view in order to determine their applicability in the field of bone regeneration. The biological assays demonstrated that the obtained scaffolds represent support that is accepted by the cell cultures. Through simulated body fluid immersion, the biodegradability of the composites was highlighted, with fiber fragmentation and surface degradation within the testing period.