Fabrication of a highly porous bioactive glass-ceramic scaffold with a high surface area and strength

A bioactive glass-ceramic scaffold was fabricated, in which two interlaced three-dimensional (3-D) glass-ceramic walls could serve as active surfaces for the formation of a bond to bone. For its fabrication, a 3-D graphite network acting as a template was prepared using the rapid prototyping method, and then uniformly dip coated with a melt-derived glass slurry. The resultant sample was heat treated at 900° or 1000°C for 5 h to remove the graphite network and densify the glass-ceramic walls. The fabricated sample exhibited an ultra-high porosity (∼95%), high compressive strength (0.2±0.03 MPa), as well as a tightly controlled pore structure. In addition, this sample had a high surface area owing to its unique structure, which was expected to enhance the rate of bone growth.