Gelatin-bioactive glass composites scaffolds with controlled macroporosity

• Highly bioactive glass particles have been dispersed in a gelatin matrix.
• Composite scaffolds with controlled and >90% opened porosity are obtained at RTP.
• They are as bioactive as pure bioactive glass, but own higher compressive strengths.

Scaffolding materials are often needed for bone regeneration: their role is to act as temporary templates for the reconstruction of bone tissues either in situ or in the laboratory. Suitable properties for such scaffolds are bioactivity and mechanical toughness, which can both be combined in composite matrices based on bioceramics and biopolymers. Among possible combinations, bioactive glasses possess unique bone-bonding ability compared to other bioceramics, while gelatin is a biocompatible polymer naturally derived from collagen. Here we report the synthesis of bioactive glass–gelatin composite scaffolds with well-controlled porosity, which is a major concern as it can deeply influence osteogenesis. Compared to pure bioactive glass scaffolds, enhanced mechanical properties were observed, while the composite scaffolds still own promising in vitro bone-like apatite forming ability.