We herein propose a novel way of producing nanofibrous gelatin-silica hybrid scaffolds through thermally induced phase-separation (TIPS) particularly using mixtures of gelatin solution and silica sol, which can mimic the physical structure, chemical composition, and eventually functions of the native bone extracellular matrix (ECM). The gelatin solutions were homogeneously hybridized with various contents of a silica sol using simple magnetic stirring, which enabled the construction of a nanofibrous structure with a uniform distribution of the silica in the gelatin nanofibers. The nanofibrous gelatinsilica hybrid scaffolds showed much better mechanical properties and in vitro biodegradation stability and apatite-forming ability than the nanofibrous pure gelatin scaffold, which were achieved by the presence of a stiff, bioactive silica phase in the nanofibers and the interaction between the silica hydroxyls and the amino group in the gelatin polymer. In addition, the nanofibrous gelatin-silica hybrid scaffold with a silica content of 30 wt% showed reasonably high in vitro biocompatibility. These findings suggest that the highly porous, nanofibrous hybrid structure mimicking the bone ECM can provide an excellent matrix for bone tissue regeneration.

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This study examined the utility of sol-gel-derived bioactive glass microspheres (BGMs) as a reinforcement to improve the mechanical properties and biological performance of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) polymer. All of the PCL-BGMs composites produced, with a variety of BGMs contents (10, 20, and 30 wt %), showed a uniform distribution of the BGMs in the PCL matrix, particularly owing to their spherical shape and small size. This led to a considerable increase in the elastic modulus from 93 ± 12 MPa to 635 ± 179 MPa with increasing BGMs content from 0 to 30 wt %. Furthermore, the addition of the BGMs to the PCL polymer significantly increased the hydrophilicity of the PCL-BGMs composites, which led to a higher water absorption and degradation rate. The PCL-BGMs composite with a BGMs content of 30 wt % showed vigorous growth of apatite crystals with a high aspect ratio on its surface after soaking in the simulated body fluid for 7 days, resulting in the creation of a porous carbonate hydroxyapatite layer.

This article reports a novel, simple route for synthesis of sol–gel derived porous, bioactive glass (BG) microspheres using chitosan (CTS) as a biomolecular template in the acid‐catalyzed sol–gel process. The use of CTS, which is a natural biocompatible polymer with a unique molecular structure, allowed the synthesis of BG microparticles with a spherical shape, 5–10 μm in size. Furthermore, pores with a size of 5–40 nm were created entirely throughout BG microspheres, which were formed by removing the network of CTS present initially in the CTS‐BG composite microparticles via heat‐treatment at 600°C for 2 h. These porous BG microspheres induced the vigorous precipitation of apatite crystals on their surface when immersed in simulated body fluid for 24 h, thus suggesting their excellent bioactivity .

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