Evaluation of the effects of nano-TiO2 on physical and mechanical properties of nano-bioglass 45S5 scaffold for bone tissue engineering

Design of a scaffold with appropriate physical and mechanical properties for tissue engineering is a major challenge. In this research, the effects of nano-titania (nTiO(2)) on the physical and mechanical properties of a nano-bioglass (nBG) scaffold were evaluated. First, nBG powder with a grain size of 100-110 nm was prepared using the method of melting pure raw material at a temperature of 1400 degrees C. Then, a porous ceramic scaffold of nBG/nTiO(2), with 30 wt% of nBG, containing different weight ratios of nano-titania (3, 6 and 9 wt% nTiO(2) with a grain size of 35-37 nm), was prepared using the polyurethane sponge replication method. XRD, XRF, SEM, FE-SEM and FTIR were used to study the phase and elemental structures, morphology, particle size, and determination of functional groups, respectively. XRD and XRF results showed that the type of produced bioglass was 45S5. The results of XRD and FT-IR showed that the best temperature to produce a bioglass scaffold was 600 degrees C, because, at this temperature, the crystal was obtained, and the main sign of the obtained crystal was the presence of Na2Ca2Si3O9 crystal. The mechanical strength and modulus of the scaffold improved by adding nTiO(2) to the nBG scaffold. The results showed that the scaffolds have 80-88% porosity at the range of 200-600 mu m; a compressive strength of 0.04-0.16 MPa, and a compressive modulus of 4-13.33 MPa, illustrating that they could be good candidates for bone tissue engineering. (C) 2015 Sharif University of Technology. All rights reserved.