Synthesis and characteristics of sol-gel bioactive SiO2-P2O5-CaO-Ag2O glasses

In this research, the effects of silver additions on the properties of bioactive glass (BG) were investigated. The synthesis of SiO2-CaO-P2O5-Ag2O bioactive glass was performed by the sol-gel route. The synthesized compounds were treated in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 3, 7, and 14 days to study the bioactivity of the new glass composition. The obtained samples were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses, MIT assay, and pH meter. Glass specimen with 2 mol% of Ag2O exhibited a higher bioactivity when compared with samples containing 4 mol% and 6 mol% Ag2O. Finally, after 14 days, the sample exhibited perfectly dispersed glacier shaped morphology of apatite. This type of morphology has not been previously reported.