Nanostructured design of hybrid biomaterials for tissue engineering
Scaffolds are materials that can act as temporary templates for tissue growth. There are many design criteria for scaffolds for tissue engineering. A scaffold must bond to the tissue, degrading as the tissue regenerates. To be an effective template the scaffold must have an interconnected pore network that is open enough for tissue ingrowth. Bioactive glass and ceramic scaffolds have all the biological properties but are brittle. The obvious alternative is to make composites, but the inorganic and organic phases tend to resorb at different rates, leading to material instability. Hybrids have the potential to have bespoke design of mechanical properties and congruent degradation through interpenetrating networks of inorganic and organic components. They are synthesised by the sol-gel process, which is a bottom-up process, where a polymer is incorporated as a silica network forms. Covalent coupling between the components is critical to their success. The chemistry is complex however. Examples will be given of hybrids synthesised of functionalised natural polymers, e.g. gelatin, and polymers that are synthesised in-house. The range of scaffolds will be shown.