A guided walk through the world of mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs): Fundamentals, processing, and applications

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are traditionally known to be able to bond to living bone and stimulate bone regeneration. The production of such materials in a mesoporous form allowed scientists to dramatically expand the versatility of oxide-based glass systems as well as their applications in biomedicine. These nanostructured materials, called mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), not only exhibit an ultrafast mineralization rate but can be used as vehicles for the sustained delivery of drugs, which are hosted inside the mesopores, and therapeutic ions, which are released during material dissolution in contact with biological fluids. This review paper summarizes the main strategies for the preparation of MBGs, as well as their properties and applications in the biomedical field, with an emphasis on the methodological aspects and the promise of hierarchical systems with multiscale porosity.