Christina Krauß

Bachelor student

Influence of the incorporation of zinc ions in borosilicate bioactive glass-scaffolds

 

Supervisor: Marcela Arango Ospina, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Scaffolds used in the field of bone tissue engineering need to be osteoconductive, bioactive and biodegradable on the one hand, but also must have suitable mechanical properties [1]. Bioactive glasses meet the first three criteria and are therefore widely used as scaffold materials. To enhance the performance of BGs, several metallic ions, like boron or zinc can be incorporated into the glass composition to be released as therapeutic agents during the dissolution process of the glass. For example, boron provides an angiogenic effect [2] and zinc is known to have antibacterial properties [3]. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effect of the incorporation of Zn-ions in the borosilicate bioactive glass 0106-B1 on mechanical properties, bioactivity and the antibacterial effect of the scaffolds. Scaffolds will be fabricated using the foam replica technique [1]. The properties of these scaffolds will be characterized using FTIR, XRD and SEM.

[1] Q. Z. Chen, I. D. Thompson and A. R. Boccaccini, 45S5 Bioglass®-derived glass–ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, Biomaterials 27 (2006) 2414-2425.

[2] A. Hoppe, N. S. Nusret, A. R. Boccaccini, A review of the biological response to ionic dissolution products from bioactive glasses and glass-ceramics, Biomaterials 32 (2011), 2757-2774.

[3] P. Balasubramanian, et al., Zinc-containing bioactive glasses for bone regeneration, dental and orthopedic application, Biomed. Glasses (2015), 51-69.