Potential Bioelectroactive Bone Regeneration Polymer Nanocomposites with High Dielectric Permittivity

The field of biomaterials has been highlighted in recent research with respect to the needs of medical treatment. [1‐4] New biomaterials, which may replace bad organs and tissues, may contribute to an increase in life expectancy and bring hope and an improved and extended life for thousands of people. [5‐8] An important step towards the construction of a tissue-engineered product is the selection of the most appropriate material to produce a scaffold for use in bone tissue engineering applications, because its properties will determine the properties of the scaffold. [9] Bioceramic hydroxyapatite (HA) has a composition and structure very close to that of natural bone and therefore has been considered an ideal material to build bone tissue engineering scaffolds, in particular due to its osteoconductivity and osteoinductivity. [10] However, its brittleness and poor mechanical stability performance limit its use for the regeneration of nonload-bearing bone defects. Biocompatible polymers have also been regarded as suitable candidates for tissue-engineered scaffolds. [11‐13] However, replacement by polymer-based biomaterials has not been completely successful and has proved to be problematic in reconstructive surgery, principally because of the poor quality of bone growth around the implants. In this area, a challenge is to conceive a new biomaterial having ferroelectric properties similar to those observed in natural bone. Indeed, piezoelectricity in bone was discovered by Fukada and Yasuda (1957) and Marino and Becker (1970) hypothesized a mechanism by which bone’s piezoelectric signal could regulate bone growth. There are also reports that direct electrical current stimulation can accelerate the bone healing response. [14,15]