Correction: 45S5 bioactive glass-based scaffolds coated with cellulose nanowhiskers for bone tissue engineering.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C4RA07740G.].

Cellulose Nanocrystals--Bioactive Glass Hybrid Coating as Bone Substitutes by Electrophoretic Co-deposition: In Situ Control of Mineralization of Bioactive Glass and Enhancement of Osteoblastic Performance.

Surface functionalization of orthopedic implants is being intensively investigated to strengthen bone-to-implant contact and accelerate bone healing process. A hybrid coating, consisting of 45S5 bioactive glass (BG) individually wrapped and interconnected with fibrous cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), is deposited on 316L stainless steel from aqueous suspension by a one-step electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process. Apart from the codeposition mechanism elucidated by means of zeta-potential and scanning electron microscopy measurements, in vitro characterization of the deposited CNCs-BG coating in simulated body fluid reveals an extremely rapid mineralization of BG particles on the coating (e.g., the formation of hydroxyapatite crystals layer after 0.5 day). A series of comparative trials and characterization methods were carried out to comprehensively understand the mineralization process of BG interacting with CNCs. Furthermore, key factors for satisfying the applicability of an implant coating such as coating composition, surface topography, and adhesion strength were quantitatively investigated as a function of mineralization time. Cell culture studies (using MC3T3-E1) indicate that the presence of CNCs-BG coating substantially accelerated cell attachment, spreading, proliferation, differentiation, and mineralization of extracellular matrix. This study has confirmed the capability of CNCs to enhance and regulate the bioactivity of BG particles, leading to mineralized CNCs-BG hybrids for improved bone implant coatings.

Electrophoretic deposition of cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) and CNs/alginate nanocomposite coatings and free standing membranes.

This study presents the electrophoretic deposition (EPD) of cellulose nanocrystals (CNs) and CNs-based alginate composite coatings for biomedical applications. The mechanism of anodic deposition of CNs and co-deposition of CNs/alginate composites was analyzed based on the results of zeta-potential, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. The capability of the EPD technique for manipulating the orientation of CNs and for the preparation of multilayer CNs coatings was demonstrated. The nanotopographic surface roughness and hydrophilicity of the deposited coatings were measured and discussed. Electrochemical testing demonstrated that a significant degree of corrosion protection of stainless steel could be achieved when CNs-containing coatings were present. Additionally, the one-step EPD-based processing of free-standing CNs/alginate membranes was demonstrated confirming the versatility of EPD to fabricate free-standing membrane structures compared to a layer-by-layer deposition technique. CNs and CNs/alginate nanocomposite coatings produced by EPD are potential candidates for biomedical, cell technology and drug delivery applications.