Evaluation of bioactive glass synthesized by alkali-mediated sol-gel process

Abstract

The main objective of this research is the elaboration of bioactive glass 58S by an alkali-mediated sol-gel method. In which, the ammonia solution was used to transfer sol to gel state, and then the gel was dried by using the free-drying technique. The dried gel was heated at 700°C in 2 h to convert into glass powder. The XRD analysis confirmed the amorphous and glassy properties of synthetic bioglass. The specific surface area of 99.146 m2/g of this bioglass was identified by using a low-temperature nitrogen adsorption technique. In vitro experiments were performed by soaking the powder samples in the simulated body fluid (SBF) at several times. The XRD patterns and SEM images high lighted the bioactivity of bioglass by the formation of a dense and visible hydroxyapatite layer on the glass's surface after only 2 days of in vitro assays. ICP-OES spectrometry was also used to illustrate the ion exchange behaviors between the bioactive glass 58S and the SBF solution.