Abstract
Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) are emerging multifunctional building blocks for various biomedical applications. In this study, the primary aim was to develop monodispersed binary SiO2-CaO BGNs with controllable Ca content. We successfully synthesized such spherical BGNs (size ~110 nm) using a modified Stöber method. Our results showed that the incorporated Ca did not significantly affect particle size, specific surface area, and structure of BGNs. Concentrations of CaO in BGN compositions ranging from 0 to 10 mol% could be obtained without the gap between actual and nominal compositions. For this type of BGNs (specific surface area 30 m2/g), the maximum concentration of incorporated CaO appeared to be ~12 mol%. The influence of Ca content on protein adsorption was investigated using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme as model proteins. The amount of adsorbed proteins increased over time at the early stage of adsorption (<2 h), regardless of glass composition and protein type. Further incubation of BGNs with protein-containing solutions seemed to induce a reduced amount of adsorbed proteins, which was more significant in BGNs with higher Ca content. The results indicate that the Ca content in BGNs is related to their protein adsorption behavior.
Highlights
Because of their small size, uniform shape, and abundant surface chemistry for functionalization, Bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) as fillers can lead to more integrated composites with enhanced mechanical performance, bioactivity, and biological activities compared to their microsized counterparts [1,6]
All nanoparticles showed a spherical shape with a smooth and nonporous surface, characteristic morphology of nanoparticles synthesized by the Stöber process [9,11]
It is known that the particle size of BGNs can be tailored by tuning processing parameters in the Stöber process, such as the molar ratio of ethanol/water and catalyst concentration [9,22,23]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. BGNs usually act as rigid fillers in polymeric matrices (e.g., hydrogels, electrospun polymer fibers) to develop advanced nanocomposites [4,5] Because of their small size, uniform shape, and abundant surface chemistry for functionalization, BGNs as fillers can lead to more integrated composites with enhanced mechanical performance, bioactivity, and biological activities compared to their microsized counterparts [1,6]. BGNs remained monodispersed and uniform in size and shape It was revealed for the first time that the gap between actual and nominal compositions of BGNs could be eliminated in a specific concentration range. We developed a series of BGNs with CaO concentrations ranging from 0 to 10 mol% in the glass composition to investigate the influence of Ca content on protein adsorption using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme (LYZ) as model proteins
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