文摘
Polyhydroxyalkanoates are emerging as a class of biodegradable polymers for applications in tissue engineering.Members of the polyhydroxyalkanoates family encompass a wide variety of materials, from hard and brittle materialsto soft and elastomeric. Over the years, efforts have been made to extend the group of polyhydroxyalkanoatesand to investigate their use in numerous biomedical applications, such as sutures, cardiovascular patches, wounddressings, guided tissue repair/regeneration devices, and tissue engineering scaffolds. Along with the developmentof polyhydroxyalkanoates, researchers have looked into the possibility of designing composites in combinationwith inorganic phases to further improve the mechanical properties, rate of degradation, and also impart bioactivity.Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate), and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) are some of the polymers which have been studied extensively to fabricate composites incombination with hydroxyapatite, bioactive glass, and glass-ceramic fillers or coatings. This paper reviewsinternational research carried out toward development of polyhydroxyalkanoates/inorganic phase composites interms of systems investigated, microstructures, properties achieved, and applications, with special focus on tissueengineering scaffolds. A comparison between different composite systems developed in the past few years ispresented. The paper also addresses the prospect of potential further development of polyhydroxyalkanoates/inorganic phase composites with optimized microstructure and properties for improved tissue engineering scaffolds.
