Exploring the interconnectivity of biomimetic hierarchical porous Mg scaffolds for bone tissue engineering:Effects of pore size distribution on mechanical properties,degradation behavior and cell migration ability

Interconnectivity is the key characteristic of bone tissue engineering scaffold modulating cell migration,blood vessels invasion and transport of nutrient and waste.However,efforts and understanding of the interconnectivity of porous Mg is limited due to the diverse architectures of pore struts and pore size distribution of Mg scaffold systems.In this work,biomimetic hierarchical porous Mg scaffolds with tailored interconnectivity as well as pore size distribution were prepared by template replication of infiltration casting.Mg scaffold with better interconnectivity showed lower mechanical strength.Enlarging interconnected pores would enhance the interconnectivity of the whole scaffold and reduce the change of ion concentration,pH value and osmolality of the degradation microenvironment due to the lower specific surface area.Nevertheless,the degradation rates of five tested Mg scaffolds were no different because of the same geometry of strut unit.Direct cell culture and evaluation of cell density at both sides of four typical Mg scaffolds indicated that cell migration through hierarchical porous Mg scaffolds could be enhanced by not only bigger interconnected pore size but also larger main pore size.In summary,design of interconnectivity in terms of pore size distribution could regulate mechanical strength,microenvironment in cell culture condition and cell migration potential,and beyond that it shows great potential for personalized therapy which could facilitate the regeneration process.

Sea urchin‐like NiMoO_(4) nanorod arrays as highly efficient bifunctional catalysts for electrocatalytic/photovoltage‐driven urea electrolysis

Developing multifunctional electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity,longterm stability,and low cost is essential for electrocatalytic energy conversion.Herein,sea urchinlike NiMoO_(4) nanorod arrays grown on nickel foam has been developed as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for urea oxidation and hydrogen evolution.The NiMoO_(4)‐200/NF catalyst exhibits efficient activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction with a low overpotential of only 68 mV in 1.0 mol/L KOH to gain a current density of 10 mA cm^(–2).The NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF catalyst exhibits a prominent oxygen evolution reaction(OER)catalytic activity with an overpotential of 288 mV at 50 mA cm^(–2),as well as for urea oxidation reaction with an ultralow potential of 1.36 V at 10 mA cm^(–2).The observed difference in electrocatalytic activity and selectivity,derived by temperature variation,is ascribed to different lattice oxygen contents.The lattice oxygen of NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF is more than that of NiMoO_(4)‐200/NF,and the lattice oxygen is conducive to the progress of OER.A urea electrolyzer was assembled with Ni‐MoO_(4)‐200/NF and NiMoO_(4)‐300/NF as cathode and anode respectively,delivering a current density of 10 mA cm^(–2)at a cell voltage of merely 1.38 V.The NiMoO_(4)nanorod arrays has also been successfully applied for photovoltage‐driven urea electrolysis and hydrogen production,revealing its great potential for solar‐driven energy conversion.

Effects of dynamic flow rates on degradation deposition behavior of Mg scaffold

Degradability of bone tissue engineering scaffold that matching the regeneration rate could allow a complete replacement of host tissue.However,the porous structure of biodegradable Mg scaffolds certainly generated high specific surface area,and the three-dimensional interconnected pores provided fast pervasive invasion entrance for the corrosive medium,rising concern of the structural integrity during the degradation.To clarify the structural evolution of the three-dimensional(3D)porous structure,semi-static immersion tests were carried out to evaluate the degradation performance in our previous study.Nevertheless,dynamic immersion tests mimicking the in vivo circulatory fluid through the interconnected porous structure have yet been investigated.Moreover,the effects of dynamic flow rates on the degradation deposition behavior of 3D porous Mg scaffolds were rarely reported.In this study,Mg scaffolds degraded at three flow rates exhibited different degradation rates and deposition process.A flow rate of 0.5 m L/min introduced maximum drop of porosity by accumulated deposition products.The deposition products provided limited protection against the degradation process at a flow rate of 1.0 m L/min.The three-dimensional interconnected porous structure of Mg scaffold degraded at 2.0 m L/min well retained after 14 days showing the best interconnectivity resistance to the degradation deposition process.The dynamic immersion tests disclosed the reason for the different degradation rates on account of flow rates,which may bring insight into understanding of varied in vivo degradation rates related to implantation sites.