Tailoring the Structure of Bioactive Glasses: From the Nanoscale to Macroporous Scaffolds

Abstract

Bioactive glasses have played a very important role in the development of new materials for bone tissue regeneration. The development of new synthesis and manufacturing methods allows the preparation of bioactive glasses with new chemical compositions, nanoscaled features, customized morphologies, and pore architectures. The composition of glasses can be designed at the atomic-molecular level to ensure bioactivity and beneficial effects including capabilities for enhancing osteogenesis and vascularization or to exert bactericide action. Moreover, the glasses can be prepared as mesoporous bioactive glasses, exhibiting ordered arrangements of nanometric pores. Through the control of the microstructure, glasses can be prepared to achieve suitable interactions with living cells. Finally, the scaffolds obtained with bioactive glasses must display interconnected pores over 100 m to make possible bone cell ingrowths and angiogenesis. In this article, the advances in the field of bioactive glasses through the control of the chemical, nanometer scale, microstructural properties, and architectural features are presented and discussed. A detailed control of these four levels of matter organization will allow optimizing the biological response of bioactive glasses when used in bone tissue regeneration.