Cu-doped 70S bioactive glass fibrous membranes produced using solution blow spinning (SBS)

Abstract

3D fibrous membranes of undoped and Cu-doped 70S glass were developed, by solution blow spinning. The concentration of copper ions ranged from 1 to 4 % in mol. As-spun fibers were calcined/stabilized at 700 °C. The produced membranes' morphological and biological properties and the release of Ca and Cu ions were evaluated. Amorphous materials were obtained in pure and doped with 1 % Cu2+ 70S glass, while metallic copper was observed in 4 % Cu2+ doped glass. All samples have fibers with average diameter at the submicron scale, ranging from 700 to 850 nm. The amount of Cu ions influenced the degradation of the samples and the release of Cu and Ca ions in the Tris solution, the greater the amount of copper the more these ions were degraded and released in the solution. In vitro biological results, showed that adding copper favored the biomineralization process. No toxicity was observed in the MMT test for all samples. Alamar Blue method showed cell viability for fibroblasts greater than 90 % for all samples and for osteoblasts greater than 70 % for the BG-70S.2Cu sample. The developed fibrous membranes presented antimicrobial characteristics against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.