Simple Synthesis of Mesostructured Bioactive Glass Foams and Their Bioactivity Study by Micro-PIXE Method

• Published in: Journal of physical chemistry. C 2013-11, Vol.117 (44), p.23066-23071
• Main Authors: Lacroix, Joséphine, Lao, Jonathan, Jallot, Edouard
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biological Physics; Chemical Sciences; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Discharges for spectral sources (including inductively coupled plasmas); Electric discharges; Exact sciences and technology; Liquid phase epitaxy; deposition from liquid phases (melts, solutions, and surface layers on liquids); Material chemistry; Materials science; Methods of deposition of films and coatings; film growth and epitaxy; Physics; Physics of gases, plasmas and electric discharges; Physics of plasmas and electric discharges; Structure and morphology; thickness; Surfaces and interfaces; thin films and whiskers (structure and nonelectronic properties); Thin film structure and morphology
• ISSN: 1932-7447; 1932-7455
• DOI: 10.1021/jp4087738

A mesoporous bioactive glass foam with an organized pore structure was synthesized by a modified sol–gel foaming process in which hydrofluoric acid (HF) was replaced and where a structure directing agent (F127) was added. The foam was compared with a nonmesostructured equivalent foam obtained through the same process, but in absence of structure-directing agent. The macroporous morphologies of the foams were studied by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) while the mesoporosities were determined by nitrogen sorption analysis. The in vitro bioactivity was evaluated by coupling global ICP-AES (inductively coupled plasma–atomic emission spectroscopy) and local micro-PIXE (particle induced X-ray emission spectroscopy) analyses after immersion of the foams in simulated body fluid (SBF). Despite different mesoporosities, the two foams both exhibited degradability and precipitation of calcium phosphates in agreement with a bioactivity process. However, an appreciable difference was highlighted: the ordered mesoporous foam exhibited a more homogeneous surface reaction which should be more suitable for tissue engineering applications in order to create a stable interface with bone cells.