Fabrication of β-tricalcium phosphate composite ceramic sphere-based scaffolds with hierarchical pore structure for bone regeneration. (20th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: He, Fupo; Qian, Guowen; Ren, Weiwei; Li, Jiyan; Fan, Peirong; Shi, Haishan; Shi, Xuetao; Deng, Xin; Wu, Shanghua; Ye, Jiandong
• Is Part Of: Biofabrication. Volume 9:Number 2(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-04-20
• Subjects: scaffolds -- calcium phosphate -- spheres -- 3D interconnection -- bone regeneration; Biomedical engineering -- Periodicals; Tissue engineering -- Periodicals; Biomedical materials -- Microstructure -- Periodicals; Bioengineering -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/aa6a62
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1758-5082

Abstract

Abstracts: Polymer sphere-based scaffolds, which are prepared by bonding the adjacent spheres via sintering the randomly packed spheres, feature uniform pore structure, full three-dimensional (3D) interconnection, and considerable mechanical strength. However, bioceramic sphere-based scaffolds fabricated by this method have never been reported. Due to high melting temperature of bioceramic, only limited diffusion rate can be achieved when sintering the bioceramic spheres, which is far from enough to form robust bonding between spheres. In the present study, for the first time we fabricated 3D interconnected β -tricalcium phosphate ceramic sphere-based (PG/TCP) scaffolds by introducing phosphate-based glass (PG) as sintering additive and placing uniaxial pressure during the sintering process. The sintering mechanism of PG/TCP scaffolds was unveiled. The PG/TCP scaffolds had hierarchical pore structure, which was composed by interconnected macropores (>200 μ m) among spheres, pores (20–120 μ m) in the interior of spheres, and micropores (1–3 μ m) among the grains. During the sintering process, partial PG reacted with β -TCP, forming β -Ca2 P2 O7 ; metal ions from PG substituted to Ca 2+ sites of β -TCP. The mechanical properties (compressive strength 2.8–10.6 MPa; compressive modulus 190–620 MPa) and porosity (30%–50%) of scaffolds could be tailored by manipulating the sintering temperatures. The introduction of PG accelerated in vitro degradation of scaffolds, and the PG/TCP scaffolds showed good cytocompatibility. This work may offer a new strategy to prepare bioceramic scaffolds with satisfactory physicochemical properties for application in bone regeneration.