Porous β-NaCaPO4 containing borate glass-ceramic scaffolds

A novel β-NaCaPO4 containing borate glass-ceramic is prepared. Two porous glass-ceramic scaffolds are prepared by binding particles with the size of 200–300 μm by 5 wt.% sodium silicate solution and 2 wt.% chitosan solutions, respectively. The reaction of the scaffolds in the SBF solution is characterized by weight loss analysis, XRD, FTIR, and SEM. The same is done to the 45S5 glass scaffolds as comparison. XRD and FTIR indicate that the carbonate hydroxyapatite has formed more rapidly on the borate glass-ceramic scaffolds. The carbonated hydroxyapatite depositing on chitosan binding scaffolds has lower crystallization degree than that on sodium silicate binding scaffolds and is similar to that of the human bone, which makes the chitosan binding scaffolds a good potential prospect in the field of tissue engineering.