Evolution of bioceramics within the field of biomaterials

This review article, dedicated to Prof. Jacques Livage, is focused on current trends in bioceramics. The first generation of inert ceramics aimed to substitute natural bone, hence the research was only focused on inert materials; the second one was aimed at mimicking some biomineralization-related functions and sol-gel chemistry plays a paramount role in their synthesis and properties. Finally, the purpose with third generation bioceramics is basically to provide an adequate scaffolding system which helps the bone cells to perform their natural processes. Tissue engineering attempts to develop artificial materials able to replace biological tissues in situations where the human body cannot perform said replacement by itself. One attempt consists on designing biomimetic materials that combine synthetic materials with cellular recognizing positions. These ceramics must exhibit an adequate degree of porosity. All these ideas shall be discussed in the present work.