Preparation method: structure–bioactivity correlation in mesoporous bioactive glass

Mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) are receiving increased attention because of their superior bioactive properties and possible applications as drug-releasing carriers, bone implants and sealing materials in dentistry. We report here the results of investigation of structures and bioactivities of two types of MBG particles prepared by two different techniques, the sol–gel method and spray pyrolysis (SP). In this study, we used transmission electron microscopy and selected area electron diffraction to characterize particle morphology and atomistic structures of the particles correlating these observations with nitrogen adsorption measurements to determine surface areas of the particles and in vitro bioactivity tests. It is found that the preparation method can influence the final composition of the particles and that SP method offers a better control over the composition. The SP particles have higher bioactivity than the sol–gel particles due to their higher surface area and possibly more favourable atomistic structure for promoting deposition of pure hydroxyl apatite phase.