Inorganic-Organic Hybrids for Biomedical Applications

Synthesis of Silica-Based Boron-Incorporated Collagen/Human Hair Keratin Hybrid Cryogels with the Potential Bone Formation Capability

“…During the past few decades, sol–gel-derived inorganic–organic hybrid silica nanocomposite materials and nanofibers have been attracting considerable attention to many in vitro and in vivo studies for soft and hard tissue regeneration thanks to their good mechanical and bioactive characteristics. Flexible sol–gel technology, which involves converting homogeneous precursor solutions into solid and/or porous network gels, has advantages such as manipulating the desired material properties for specific applications, controlling porosity at the nanometric scale, low-temperature processing, and being cost-effective. , Moreover, the ease of homogeneous incorporation of multiple structural moieties (from inorganic to organic) into hybrid structures is another advantage of this technique. The preparation of organic–inorganic hybrid materials has several stages that include hydrolysis and polycondensation of metal hydroxides, alkoxides, or salts at room temperature.…”

“…Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), most frequently used as a precursor to fabricate hydrogel composite materials thanks to the relatively slow and controllable reaction rate, is a silicon alkoxide. , Biodegradable natural and synthetic polymers have been utilized as templates to prepare sol–gel-based hybrids for biomedical applications. Natural biopolymers (e.g., collagen, chitosan, cellulose, gelatin, and silk) are preferred as the counterpart of the inorganic–organic hybrids instead of synthetic ones due to their well-designed molecular structures and important functional groups. , Collagen, the main organic part of the mineralized bone matrix and connective tissue, is one of the most studied natural polymers as a bone-substituting material in terms of controllable biodegradation, favorable cell–material interactions, and high water absorption capacity . Similar to collagen, keratin extracts obtained from the keratinous waste materials (e.g., wool, feathers, hair, and nails) have also been widely used as the building blocks for new biomaterial development in different forms, including 3D tissue-engineered scaffolds, coatings, hydrogels, and films due to their intrinsic biological properties, excellent biocompatibility, and natural abundance .…”

Silica/Polyethylene Glycol Hybrid Materials Prepared by a Sol-Gel Method and Containing Chlorogenic Acid

“…The reduction of toxicity and the extension of the circulation time of many drug nanocarriers, were improved by addition of PEG in the material [ 15 , 18 , 19 ]. In fact, SiO 2 /PEG hybrid materials have even been proposed as osteochondral regeneration matrices and in drug delivery applications [ 21 ].…”

Photoswitchable Phosphonate–Fullerene Hybrids with Cholinesterase Activity

“…The most urgent tasks to be solved with hybrid nanomaterials in biomedicine are connected with minimization of toxic effect of medicines, targeted drugs delivery, biomineralization, bioimaging, biosensing, etc. (3)(4)(5). Nanoparticles, macromolecules, nanotubes or layered structures have been successfully demonstrated as inorganic building blocks in such hybrid materials (6).…”