Christopher Heintges

Bachelor student

Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous borosilicate based bioactive glasses using sol-gel process

 

Supervisors: Qaisar Nawaz, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Auspicious research has been performed on bioactive glasses (BGs) due to their suitable properties for biomedical applications such as their osteoconductive, osteoinductive, and angiogenic effects and their adjustable degradation rate [1]. These characteristics depend on the particles’ morphology, porosity and composition that can be adjusted using the sol-gel approach during the bioactive glass synthesis [2]. The incorporation of therapeutic metallic ions such as manganese, copper, boron etc. during the synthesis of BGs impart synergetic effects including improvement in the bioactivity, angiogenesis, and antibacterial activity [3]. The aim of this bachelor thesis is the synthesis and characterization of borosilicate based mesoporous bioactive glasses using the sol-gel process. Glasses of different compositions will be prepared and analyzed according to their particle size, pore size, porous structure, and bioactivity.

[1] K. Zheng, B. Sui, K. Ilyas and A. R. Boccaccini, Porous bioactive glass micro- and nanospheres with controlled morphology: developments, properties and emerging biomedical applications. Mater. Horiz. 2021;8:300-335.

[2]   D. Arcos and M. Vallet-Regí, Sol-gel silica-based biomaterials and bone tissue regeneration. Acta Biomater. 2010;6:2874–2888.

[3]   Q. Nawaz, M. A. U. Rehman, A. Burkovski, J. Schmidt, A. M. Beltrán, A. Shahid, N. K. Alber, W. Peukert and A. R. Boccaccini, Synthesis and characterization of manganese containing mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles for biomedical applications. J Mater Sci: Mater Med. 2018;29:64.