Graphene-Based Nanocomposites as Promising Options for Hard Tissue Regeneration

Tissues are often damaged by physical trauma, infection or tumors. A slight injury heals naturally through the normal healing process, while severe injury causes serious health implications. Therefore, many efforts have been devoted to treat and repair various tissue defects. Recently, tissue engineering approaches have attracted a rapidly growing interest in biomedical fields to promote and enhance healing and regeneration of large-scale tissue defects. On the other hand, with the recent advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology, various nanomaterials have been suggested as novel biomaterials. Graphene, a two-dimensional atomic layer of graphite, and its derivatives have recently been found to possess promoting effects on various types of cells. In addition, their unique properties, such as outstanding mechanical and biological properties, allow them to be a promising option for hard tissue regeneration. Herein, we summarized recent research advances in graphene-based nanocomposites for hard tissue regeneration, and highlighted their promising potentials in biomedical and tissue engineering.