Fabrication of Bioglass 58S 3D macroporous scaffolds, using a PMMA monolith template, to improve cell viability

Abstract

Bioglass 58S is a bioactive material that can be used to help bone regeneration. In this article we present the fabrication of macroporous 58S Bioglass scaffolds with 3D interconnected porosity, that were prepared by immersing a PMMA microsphere monolith into a 58S sol. The resulting composite samples were calcined leaving macroporous 58S BG scaffolds, which were characterized by SEM, DSC-TGA, XRD and FTIR spectroscopy. These were compared to 58S Bioglass powders prepared using the same sol and calcined under the same conditions. Apart from the presence of macropores, the main difference between the two types of Bioglass 58S samples was the presence of carbonate species in the samples prepared using the PMMA monolith. Finally, the bioactivity of the macroporous 58S scaffolds and 58S powders were evaluated using SBF and cell viability assays. The macroporous 58S scaffolds were found to greatly improve the cell viability compared to the 58S powders which could be attributed to the presence of carbonate species.

Keywords

• Cell viability
• Bone regeneration
• Bioglass 58S
• 3D interconnected macroporosity