Preparation and characterization of mesoporous calcium‐doped silica‐coated TiO2 scaffolds and their drug releasing behavior

Three dimensional titanium dioxide (TiO2) scaffolds are receiving attention for the reconstruction of damaged bone tissue. Although these scaffolds show sufficient mechanical properties, their bioactivity is significantly lower than that of bioactive glass scaffolds. Sol‐gel derived mesoporous bioactive glasses exhibit high bioactivity in vitro and can also be loaded with drugs and growth factors due to their tunable pore size. Hence, the main aim of this work is to produce and characterize TiO2 scaffolds coated with sol‐gel derived mesoporous calcium silicate spheres (MCS) and to test their in vitro bioactivity and drug delivery properties. TiO2 scaffolds were coated with different wt% of MCS using a simple dip coating method. The bioactivity of the MCS‐coated TiO2 scaffolds was tested in vitro in simulated body fluid (SBF). TiO2 scaffolds coated with 2 wt% and 4 wt% MCS showed bioactivity after 1 week of immersion in SBF. The formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X‐ray diffraction analysis (XRD). Ibuprofen drug loading and release rate were investigated in MCS and MCS coated TiO2 scaffolds. A 3 weeks in vitro drug release test was performed and the amount of drug released by MCS was measured by UV‐Vis spectroscopy. The MCS were successfully loaded with Ibuprofen, as model drug. Sustained drug release was measured, proving the applicability of MCS as drug delivery carriers. Thus, TiO2 scaffolds with enhanced functionalities were produced exploiting MCS coating.