Evaluation nanostructure properties of bioactive glass scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

The use of biomaterials in bone tissue engineering newly has been developed. They are biocompatible material which are reabsorbed in body and replaced with newly formed tissue. Bioactive glass scaffolds will be appropriate candidates if pore morphology, size and structures are controlled. Scaffolds with nanostructure will provide these goals. In this research bioglass powder was synthesized with sol-gel method to achieve nanostructure powder. The glass powder was characterized with transmission electron microscope (TEM). Scaffolds were prepared with combination of bioglass powder and sugar as porogen followed by pressing at 80 MPa then sintering at 1050 degrees C. The morphology of sintered scaffolds was characterized with scanning electron microscope (SEM) and porosity was measured with density method. Mechanical properties were assessed with compressive strength. The TEM results show that synthesized powder has particle size about 25 nm. The SEM results show that nanopores and macropores are connectively distributed in whole part of scaffolds. The compressive strength of scaffolds was 0.8 MPa. Overall, the scaffold is suggested that is appropriate alternative for bone tissue engineering.