Equisetum Hyemale - Derived Unprecedented Bioactive Composite for Hard and Soft Tissues Engineering

Abstract

Although Bioactive Glasses (BG) has been progressively optimized, their preparation still uses toxic reagents and calcination at high temperatures to remove organic solvents. The drawbacks related to the BG synthesis were overcome by treating the ashes from the Equisetum hyemale plant in an ethanol/water solution to develop a bioactive composite [glass/carbon (BG-Carb)]. The BG-Carb was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and its chemical composition was assessed by inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) gas adsorption analysis showed a specific surface area of 121 m2 g-1. The formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) surface layer in vitro was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)analyse before and after immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) analyses confirmed HA in the sample before the immersion in SBF solution and after immersion in SBF solution; and increase of the HA layer on the sample surface, after the immersion in SBF solution. The BG-Carb samples showed no cytotoxicity on MC3T3-E1 cells and osteo-differentiation capacity similar to the positive control. Altogether, the BG-Carb material data reveals a promising plant waste-based candidate for hard and soft tissue engineering.