Surface functionalisation of sol-gel-based bioactive glass scaffolds for drug delivery

Abstract

Bioactive glasses are widely used in bone tissue engineering (BTE) since they can develop strong bonds with bone through the formation of a hydroxyapatite (HA) layer1. Within these materials, sol-gel-based bioactive glasses (SGBGs) are attractive due to their enhanced bioactivity and resorbability and their capacity of being functionalised with a large variety of moieties2-3. Surface functionalisation is an interesting approach to load drugs into the material and allow their release in a controlled manner3. The aim of this study is the development of new SGBGs for 3D porous scaffolds and functionalisation of their surface by two different methods4-5 in order to enhance the drug delivery capability.