Synthesis and Characterization of Alginate Scaffolds Containing Bioactive Glass for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Aim of this study was to examine the properties of bio glass/alginate composite scaffolds while the content of bio-glass containing Zn and Mg was increased (0-20 Wt%). For this purpose, initially bio-glass was synthesized by sol-gel method. Subsequently, bio-glass/alginate scaffolds with three different weigh ratios of 0/100, 10/90 and 20/80 were fabricated by freeze drying method. The interactions of polymer and bio-glass were characterized by FTIR and XRD analyses. The incorporation of bioactive glass has significant effect on the size and shape of alginate scaffold pores which is investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Although the morphology did not change noticeably, the pore size was decreased from 320 to 200 μm when the bio-glass content was increased up to 20 W_t. The extent of porosity was over 75% which is suitable for bone tissue engineering.