A novel synthesis of monodispersed bioactive glass nanoparticles via ultrasonic-assisted surfactant-free microemulsion approach

In this paper, nanoscale bioactive glasses with remarkable mono-dispersity, uniform size and homogenous distribution were synthesized by surfactant-free microemulsion strategy containing water/ethanol/dichloromethane combined with ultrasound irradiation. The morphology, microstructure and in vitro apatite-forming activity of bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) were investigated and the characterization results demonstrated that well-dispersed nanoparticles with diameters of 224 +/- 10 nm, narrow diameter distribution and uniform spherical morphology, which are in favor of internalizing by cells, were successfully obtained. In addition, the in vitro acellular biomineralization assay revealed that the fabricated nanoparticles possessed good apatite-forming capacity. All these fantastic performances may promote BGNs to become a promising candidate as injectable biomaterials for the local sustained delivery applied in bone tissue engineering. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Nanoscale bioactive glasses were successfully synthesized with remarkable mono-dispersity and uniform spherical morphology using a surfactant-free microemulsion strategy combined with ultrasound irradiation. The bioactive glass nanoparticles demonstrated excellent apatite-forming activity, making them a promising candidate for local sustained delivery in bone tissue engineering.