Morphology and cell responses of three-dimensional porous silica nanofibrous scaffold prepared by sacrificial template method

Three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrous scaffolds morphologically mimicking natural extracellular matrix show great potential in the application of tissue repair. Herein, we report a novel 3D nanofibrous silica (SiO2) scaffold fabricated via a sacrificial template method. The sacrificed template used was 3D bacterial cellulose and the resultant silica nanofiber has a ultrasmall diameter of 21 nm. SEM, TEM, and AFM evidence the 3D porous nanofibrous structure and pore structure measurement confirms the existence of macro- and meso-pores in the as-prepared silica scaffold. Cell studies using osteoblast cells demonstrate excellent biocompatibility and high ALP activity. These results suggest that the 3D silica nanofibrous scaffold is a promising candidate for hard tissue engineering.