Zinc-doped inorganic bioactive materials: a comprehensive review of properties and their applications in osteogenesis, antibacterial, and hemostasis

Abstract

The trace element zinc is often referred to as “the electric spark of life”. The reported physiological roles of zinc as a doping element in a variety of novel bioactive materials include promoting osteogenesis, improving antimicrobial activity, affecting blood coagulation, and inducing anticancer properties, while maintaining good biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review outlines the fundamental physiological mechanisms of zinc activity and provides a detailed overview of the material composition, characterization techniques, and application prospects of zinc-doped bioactive glasses (melt-derived and sol-gel methods), and bioceramics (including bioactive cements and coatings) reported in recent years. The key finding is that the adding zinc to various bioactive materials significantly enhances the versatility and flexibility of applications, such as bone tissue engineering, antibacterial implants and wound hemostasis. In addition, it is worth noting there is still room for improvement in achieving precise delivery and controlled release of zinc ions from the materials, ensuring a balance between therapeutic efficacy and safety of bioactive materials. In a word, this review aspires to summarize the advancements in the osteogenesis, antibacterial and hemostatic applications of metal-doped inorganic bioactive materials and provide guidance for the design and development of innovative bioactive materials in biomedical field. This review provides an in-depth review of the properties and applications of zinc-doped inorganic bioactive materials, including bioactive glasses (melt-derived and sol-gel methods), bioceramics, biocements, and bio-coatings. The key finding is that the adding zinc to various bioactive materials not only enhances the mechanical properties of the materials, but also significantly increases the versatility and flexibility of bone tissue engineering applications by promoting excellent osteogenesis, inhibiting bacterial growth, and promoting good hemostasis through multiple biological mechanisms. Furthermore, it is important to consider the advancements achieved through the use of zinc ions in the study of diabetes microenvironment osteogenesis, Alzheimer's disease (AD), atherosclerosis, and other areas. This will help in exploring wider applications of zinc and in addressing current technical constraints to create novel zinc-doped biomaterials and therapeutics.