Trimodal attributes within acidic mesostructured bioactive glass nanoparticles

Abstract

This study reports the synthesis of multicomponent 80SiO2-15CaO-5P2O5 bioactive glass having a spherical morphology with an ordered mesoporous structure comprising of uniformly grown nanocrystals of apatite embedded within it. These nanospheres were synthesized through a centrifugation-assisted two step acid-catalyzed sol–gel method and were found to have a size range of 200–250 nm. The bulk crystallographic analysis together with microstructural characterizations reveals that the inorganic amorphous glass matrix is composed of nanocrystalline apatite domains. These nanoapatite domains those are dispersed throughout the matrix are found to influence the textural properties since the crystal growth of apatite interrupts the mesoporous structuring. Alongside the mesoporous ordering is observed to have a short range order. These particles find its potential use in drug delivery since spherical and also due to the apatite nanocrystals that can act as temporary barrier to prevent rapid release of drugs.