Nanocomposite Hydrogels Based on Ceramic Nanoparticles with Applications in Tissue Engineering

Hydrogels, which consist of three-dimensional polymer networks from crosslinked homopolymers or copolymers, are able to absorb a large amount of water or biological fluids. Due to the remarkable characteristic of hydrogels, such as versatility in fabrication, high tunability in the physical, chemical, and biological properties, especially their excellent biocompatibility and similarity to native extracellular matrix (ECM), are an important class of biomaterials that can be utilized in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Hence; they have been most extensively studied in academic and industrial research. An emerging approach to reinforce polymeric hydrogels in order to overcome basic drawbacks of traditional the limitations of chemically crosslinked hydrogels such as low mechanical strength, focuses on incorporation of nanoparticles within the hydrogel network. A various types of ceramic nanoparticles such as nanoclays, bioglasses and hydroxy apatite can be integrated within the hydrogel networks to provide hydrogel nanocomposites with unique chemical, physical, and biological properties. In this review, the fundamentals of hydrogels and ceramic nanoparticles were briefly discussed, then we focused on the most recent accomplishments and developments in the design, synthesis and application of nanocomposite hydrogels containing ceramic nanoparticles especially bioactive glass, with emphasis on bone tissue engineering.