ABSTRACT
Chitosan, alginate (ALG), gelatin, and collagen are some of the commonly used natural polymers in bone tissue engineering (BTE). ALG microspheres are widely used for drug delivery applications but they have various limitations such as uncontrolled release kinetics and low drug entrapment efficiency. Both direct and alternating currents are used for electrophoretic deposition of bioactive glass/ALG onto stainless steel implants. Materials such as oyster shell powder, cockle shell powder, and halloysite nanotubes are used along with ALG to form scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. ALG is an anionic polymer having promising potential for its applications in BTE since it can easily be modified in many forms such as hydrogels, aerogels, three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds, fibers, sponges, microspheres, microcapsules, and foams. In BTE applications, ALG is prepared along with other materials as 3D biocomposites in various structures including scaffolds, electrospun fibers, hydrogels, and microspheres.
