Fig. 7: Clay–bisphosphonate complexation for dual functionality.

Clay–bisphosphonate interactions can generate functionalized nanoparticles and self-assembling nanocomposite hydrogels while preserving clay surface reactivity for additional functionality. Clay–bisphosphonate interactions can be harnessed to generate high water content hyaluronic acid hydrogels with greatly enhanced mechanical properties and the capacity to bind the bone inducing growth factor, BMP-2, for enhanced localized efficacy in vivo. Adapted with permission from⁹.