Preparation of Borosilicate Xerogel and Research on its Mineralization

Abstract

Tributyl borate was first adopted for the introduction of boron in the preparation of bioactive borosilicate xerogel by sol-gel method. The xerogel reacted continuously in 0.25M K2HPO4 solution with a starting pH value of 7.0 at 37 °C for 1day. The structural, morphologies and compositional changes resulting from the conversion were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that speed of formation of HA was cut way back on the time with the addition of boron and the induction period for the HA nucleation on the surface of the borosilicate xerogel was short than 1 days. The conversion mechanism of the borosilicate xerogels to hydroxyapaptite was also discussed.