Fabrication and characterization of bioactive glass (45S5)/titania biocomposites

Bioactive glass (BG) (45S5) has been used successfully as bone-filling material in orthopedic and dental surgery but its lean mechanical strength limits its applications in load-bearing positions. Approaches to strengthen these materials decreased their bioactivity. In order to realize the optimal matching between mechanical and bioactivity properties, bioactive glass (45S5) was reinforced by introducing titania (TiO2) in anatase form and treated at 1000 degrees C to form new bioactive glass/titania biocomposites. The prepared biocomposites were assessed by XRD, FT-IR, mechanical properties and SEM. The results verified that the increase of titania percentage to BG powder enhanced gradually the mechanical data of the prepared biocomposites. SEM and FT-IRRS confirmed the presence of a rich bone-like apatite layer post-immersion on the composite surface. It has been found that the new BG/titania biocomposite materials especially those containing high content of titania have high bioactivity properties and compressive strength values comparable to cortical bone. Therefore, these biocomposite materials are promising for medical applications such as bone substitutes especially in load-bearing sites. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.