Room temperature synthesis of agarose/sol–gel glass pieces with tailored interconnected porosity

Abstract

An original shaping technique has been applied to prepare porous bodies at room temperature. Agarose, a biodegradable polysaccharide, was added as binder of a sol-gel glass in powder form, yielding an easy to mold paste. Interconnected tailored porous bodies can be straightforwardly prepared by pouring the slurry into a polymeric scaffold, previously designed by stereolitography, which is subsequently eliminated by alkaline dissolution at room temperature. The so obtained pieces behave like a hydrogel with an enhanced consistency that makes them machinable and easy to manipulate. These materials generate an apatite-like layer when immersed in a simulated body fluid, indicating a potential in vivo bioactivity. The proposed method can be applied to different powdered materials to produce pieces, at room temperature, with various shapes and sizes and with tailored interconnected porosity.

Solid Free-form Fabrication Technology and Its Application to Bone Tissue Engineering

“…After fabricating the structure and filling it with synthetic and natural polymers, they fabricated the desired scaffolds by dipping the structure in an alkaline solution. Vallet-Regi et al fabricated scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration using a negative mold and a commercial photopolymer (Accrura TM SI10, 3D Systems) and etching technology for removing the photopolymer (31,32). They tested several different materials, such as HA, β-tricalcium phosphate, and agarose.…”

Biocompatibility markers for the study of interactions between osteoblasts and composite biomaterials

“…For this reason, BCP is more efficient than HA alone for different applications [5] and BCP bioceramics are recommended for use as an alternative or additive to autogenous bone for orthopedic and dental applications [1,4]. Mixtures of ceramics with agarose, as natural biodegradable binder, have been recently performed in order to increase the flexibility of the ceramic component and to facilitate the biomaterial preparation in different pieces with the desired size and shape according to the needs of the patient [6,7]. These mixtures avoid many problems to place the material into the bone defect allowing to plug it densely.…”

Control of the pore architecture in three-dimensional hydroxyapatite-reinforced hydrogel scaffolds

“…In the case of hard tissue substitution, a reasonable strategy is to design ceramic-polymer materials that combine the strength of single components and minimize undesirable drawbacks [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Bioceramics, such as hydroxyapatite, bioactive glass and tricalcium phosphate, impart high biocompatibility and the ability to induce bone formation while mechanically reinforcing the scaffolds [27][28][29][30].…”