Biomedical Applications of Biodegradable Composites
A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2021) | Viewed by 9464
Special Issue Editor
Interests: polymer; polymer processing; smart manufacturing; tissue engineering; bone regeneration; composites; controlled release; thermoplastic composites; additive manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The use of biodegradable composites is increasing in the biomedical space. Composites, by their nature, impart the beneficial properties of the individual components while overcoming their limitations through the synergistic combination of distinctly different materials. However, the potential of biodegradable composites can only be achieved if there is intimate, uninterrupted contact between the reinforcement and matrix phases of the composite and in the case of nanocomposites exfoliation of the nanoparticles. This can, in itself, be difficult to achieve while retaining the biocompatibility of the final construct, as the matrix and reinforcement agent are generally not compatible. Approaches for this can include the following:
- Surface treatment
- Reactive extrusion
- Process optimisation
Biodegradable composites can generally be processed using traditional manufacturing techniques but can also utilise emerging technologies such as additive manufacturing to produce final fabricated implants. These enable easy production scaling, which can expediate the uptake of these technologies.
Furthermore, while the biodegradable nature of these composites allows tissue to repair uninterred as the implant degrades, the biocompatibility of the degradation components must be given special consideration.
Nevertheless, these composites can be used to overcome shortfalls of traditional materials in a variety of applications such as:
- Tissue engineering
- Bone repair
- Cardiovascular, urinary, and other stents
- In-situ controlled release of active pharmaceutical ingredients
Dr. Declan Devine
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Biodegradable composites
- surface treatment
- nanoreinforcement
- additive manufacturing
- cytocompatibility
