Bioactive glass nanotube scaffold with well-ordered mesoporous structure for improved bioactivity and controlled drug delivery

In this study, a novel mesoporous bioactive glass nanotube（MBGN） scaffold has been fabricated via template-assisted sol-gel method using bacterial cellulose（BC） as template and nonionic block copolymer（P123） as pore-directing agent. The scaffold was characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, transmission electron microscopy（TEM）, Fourier-transform infrared（FTIR） spectroscopy, and N;adsorption-desorption analysis. Furthermore, simvastatin was used to evaluate the loading efficiency and release kinetics of the scaffold. The obtained scaffold displays nanofiber-like morphology, ordered mesopores on the tube walls, and interconnected three-dimensional（3 D） network structure that completely replicates the BC template. In addition, it shows dual pore sizes（16.2 and 3.3 nm）, large specific surface area(537.2 m;g;) and pore volume(1.429 cm;g;). More importantly, the scaffold possesses excellent apatite-forming ability and sustainable drug release as compared to the counterpart scaffold without mesopores. This unique scaffold can be considered a promising candidate for drug delivery and bone tissue regeneration.