Characterization of melt-derived 45S5 and sol-gel-derived 58S bioactive glasses

The ability of bioactive glasses to form a bond to living bone and also to stimulate bone-cell proliferation depends on the chemical composition and o n the surface texture of the glasses. In this work, the differences in phys ical properties between the melt-derived 45S5 and sol-gel-derived 58S Biogl ass((R)) powders of various particle-size ranges were studied. The powders were characterized for particle-size distribution by laser spectrometry, fo r specific surface area and porosity by nitrogen sorption analysis, and for morphological features by scanning electron microscopy. Melt-derived 45S5 powders exhibited a low-porosity texture with surface area in the range 0.1 5-2.7 m(2)/g. In contrast, the sol-gel-derived powders exhibited a highly m esoporous texture, with surface area In the range of 126.5-164.7 m(2)/g and a large fraction of 6-9 nm pore sizes. These differences in texture, as we ll as variations in chemical composition, account for significant changes i n the resorption and ill vivo responses. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.