Towards a New Bone Scaffold Material - Exploring Silicon Nanowires as a Biomimetic Environment for Osteoblastic Differentiation

• Applicant: Dr. Annina Steinbach
• Subject Area: Biomaterials
• Term: from 2016 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 325743178

The goal of the proposed project is the development of silicon nanowire tissue-like fleeces as a novel scaffold material for bone tissue engineering. The material promises the synergistic effect of a biomimetic structure and the chemical release of silicate as a factor for enhancing bone build-up. The project will comprise material synthesis, acellular characterisation of the material and in vitro characterisation in a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) model to optimise the material and maximise its potential to induce osteogenic differentiation and candidacy for translation.By using silicon nanowire fleeces not only a synergistic effect of structure and chemistry might be induced but it also offers the unique possibility to independently control diameter, length and branching of the individual fibrous structures without changing bulk or surface chemistry. Additionally, silicon nanowire fleeces without a support substrate, representing a new class of material, will be fabricated to offer a hierarchical 3-dimensional environment for cells with the aim to mimic bone matrix structurally.Mineralisation of the silicon nanowire fleeces with strontium-doped calcium phosphate will provide a composite material that merges several factors for successful osseoinduction: silicate, calcium, phosphate and strontium ion release combined with a biomimetic structure. Several strategies for material synthesis exist and the host institution offers a wealth of ground-breaking methods specially tailored to gain information on nanomaterials and analyse the cellular reaction to the resulting material.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Sweden
• Host: Professorin Molly Stevens, Ph.D.