Biomedical applications of zeolite-based materials: A review.

Abstract

Zeolites are crystalline, hydrated aluminosilicates of alkali earth cations, consisting of 3D frameworks of [SiO4]4- and [AlO4]5- tetrahedral, linked through the shared oxygen atoms, which have been widely applied in multifarious technological approaches such as adsorbents, catalysts, ion exchangers, molecular sieves for separation, and sorting the molecules according to their crystalline size dimensions. On the other hand, the unique and outstanding physical and chemical properties of zeolite materials such as porous character, ion exchangeability, water absorption capacity, immunomodulatory and antioxidative effects, biocompatibility and long-term chemical and biological stability, make them increasingly useful in various filed of biomedicine including drug delivery systems, wound healing, scaffolds used in tissue engineering, anti-bacterial and anti-microbial, implant coating, contrast agents, harmful ions removal from the body, gas absorber, hemodialysis, and teeth root filling. Therefore, this review focuses on the more recent advances of the use of zeolites in various biomedical applications feedbacks especially drug delivery, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering with special emphasis on their biomaterial perspectives.