Porous three-dimensional bioactive glass scaffolds have been developed and used extensively in bone tissue engineering. The incorporation of extra inorganic ions to increase the angiogenesis, osteogenesis as well as antibacterial efficacy of scaffolds e.g., copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) is an important approach attracting increasing attention. This research studies the effect of Cu, Zn as well as co-doped Cu-Zn incorporated into borosilicate bioactive glass (BS) scaffolds on the mechanical and in-vitro biological properties. The 3D porous scaffolds were produced by the foam replica technique from glasses in the system 56.6SiO2-18.5CaO-11.1K2O-5.5Na2O-4.6MgO-3.7P2O5 (wt.%) doped with CuO (3 wt.%) or ZnO (1.0 wt.%) and with both CuO (3 wt.%) and ZnO (1.0 wt.%). The green bodies were sintered. The structural characterization of the Cu and/or Zn-doped BS scaffolds was carried out using XRD analysis and FTIR spectroscopy, while the microstructure and morphologies of the 3D scaffolds were analyzed by mean of SEM. In-vitro bioactivity and degradation of scaffolds were investigated by performing static dissolution experiment s in SBF solution up to 14 days at 37˚C. It was found that the scaffolds exhibit high porosity (up to 90%) and pore sizes in the range of 100-400 μm, showing also a well interconnected porous network structure. The addition of Cu and/or Zn into BS scaffolds leads to excellent calcium phosphate precipitation after the treatment in SBF. The degradation behavior and mechanical properties of scaffolds were also affected by ion addition. Therefore, Cu and/or Zn dopants in BS scaffolds result in promising biomaterials for the regeneration of hard tissue.

Keywords: bioactive glass scaffolds, borosilicate bioactive glasses, copper and/or zinc-doped, in-vitro bioactivity, and bone regeneration