One-pot synthesis of magnetic, macro/mesoporous bioactive glasses for bone tissue engineering

Magnetic and macro/mesoporous bioactive glasses were synthesized by a one-pot method via a handy salt leaching technique. It was identified to be an effective and simple synthetic strategy. The non-ionic triblock copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (P123), was used as the structure directing agent for mesoporous structure but also as the reductant to reduce the iron source into magnetic iron oxide. The prepared materials exhibited excellent super-paramagnetic property with interconnected macroporous (200-300 μm) and mesoporous (3.4 nm) structure. Furthermore, their outstanding drug storage/release properties and rapid (5) induction of hydroxyapatite growth ability were investigated after immersing in simulated body fluid solution at 37 °C. Notably, the biocompatibility assessment confirmed that the materials obtained presented good biocompatibility and enhanced adherence of HeLa cells. Herein, the novel materials are expected to have potential application for bone tissue engineering.