Bioglass-based scaffolds with carbon nanotube coating for bone tissue engineering

Highly porous 45S5 Bioglass-based foam scaffolds were coated with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique. By placing the scaffolds in between the two electrodes of the EPD cell, a CNT coating of up to 1 mum thickness was achieved on the surface throughout the whole three dimensional (3D) matrix. A 0.5 wt% CNT aqueous suspension was used and EPD was carried out at 2.8 V for 10 mins. The compression strength of this CNT/Bioglass composite was measured to be 0.70 MPa. Moreover the increased electrical conductivity of the composite with CNT coating was confirmed. The scaffolds have the potential for applications in bone tissue engineering due to the high bioactivity, nano-roughness in 3D and electrical conductivity provided by the addition of CNT.