Overview
Biomaterials and the environment encompasses how biomaterials interact with biological and surrounding environments, including their biocompatibility, dissolution behaviour, and suitability for supporting living tissue. Biomaterials are natural or synthetic substances engineered to function in contact with the body, and their performance depends on how they respond to the chemical and mechanical conditions around them. Calcium orthophosphates are a prominent example: their chemical and structural similarity to the mineral component of natural bone and teeth makes them strong candidates for bone tissue engineering, where they serve as scaffolds that provide a supportive environment for cell growth and new tissue formation. This topic matters because scaffold materials must balance biocompatibility, controlled dissolution, surface properties, and mechanical behaviour to integrate successfully in dental and orthopaedic applications. Key aspects include tailoring stoichiometry and surface charge, managing brittleness, and understanding how materials behave within a metabolically and mechanically active setting. Open-access research available through this collection examines calcium orthophosphate scaffolds and their properties for bone tissue engineering, illustrating how biomaterial design responds to its biological environment.