Preparation and bioactivity of sol-gel macroporous bioactive glass

Bioactive glass is well known for its ability of bone regeneration, and sol-gel bioactive glass has many advantages compared with melt-derived bioactive glass. 3-D scaffold prepared by the sol-gel method is a promising substrate material for bone tissue engineering and large-scale bone repair. Porous sol-gel glass in the CaO-SiO2-P2O5 system with macropores larger than 100 gm was prepared by the addition of stearic acid as a pore former. The diameter of the pore created by the pore former varied from 100 to 300 mu m. The formation of a hydroxyapatite layer on the glass was analyzed by studying the surface of the porous glass by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectra after they had been immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) for some time, and the porous glass shows good bioactivity. (C) 2008 University of Science and Technology Beijing. All rights reserved.