Agnes Ostafin, University of Notre Dame, Dept of Chemical Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556 and Stephanie Schmidt, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Dept of Chemical Engineering, Notre Dame, IN 46556.
Presented is a synthetic strategy for the liquid phase production of biocompatible mesoporous calcium phosphate nanorod materials. The materials range in size and length from a a couple hundred nanometers to over two micron, and have significantly high surface areas, when the templating surfactants are removed by extraction. The materials are stable on drying and can be filled with a wide range of material, such as luminescent dyes for imaging application, or drugs. The fibrous nature of these materials allows them to be used as structural reinforcements for polymeric tissue engineering scaffolds for bone repair, or other cells. The cytotocixity of these materials for osteoblast cultures was evaluated.