Research Projects

The main goal of the project is to develop biomimetic metaloxide-doped borate-based bioactive glasses (BBGs) incorporating select therapeutic ions such as Ce3+, Cu2+, Ag+, Fe3+ and Sr2+ using melt quenching technique. Suitable engineering strategies will be adopted and implemented to overcome the existing limitations of available BBGs, such as high dissolution rate, poor mechanical strength and cell viability. It is expected that modifications of the basic glass composition (B2O3–CaO–Na2O) by the introduction of Bi2O3 and additional therapeutic ions will contribute to fabricate materials with improved or novel biological activity and functionality (e.g. by inducing antibacterial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, osteo-inductive or mechanical properties). The development of such BBGs will span significant gaps in biomaterials engineering including the design of appropriate material composition for achieving the desired property enhancement of the synthesized bioglass. Based on these claimed merits, the proposed problem will explore the efficacy of the glasses in the field of tissue engineering. Moreover, the optimization of the novel BBG composition by varying bismuth concentration in the glass network and investigation of the influence of various therapeutic ions on structural, mechanical, in vitro bioactivity, biodegradation, cytocompatability, antibacterial, biofilms formation, and anticancer activity will lead to potential openings in the domains of hard and soft tissue engineering with diverse applications.