Synthesis, Structural and Biomedical Characterization of Hydroxyapatite/Borosilicate Bioactive Glass Nanocomposites

In this work, a borosilicate glass sample (5SiO 2 –45B 2 O 3 –20Na 2 O–25CaO–5Ag 2 O) was added to nano-sized carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) powders with different contents up to 20 wt% to improve the bioactivity, antibacterial effect, physical and mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposites. The CHA and BG nanocomposite powders were mixed, milled with a high-energy ball mill, then pressed into pellets under hydraulic pressure, and finally sintered in muffle at 650 ºC. Subsequently, the sintered samples were subjected to X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine their structure, chemical composition and microstructure, respectively. Furthermore, the physical and mechanical properties of the sintered nanocomposites were also measured. Moreover, the in vitro bioactivity of the prepared nanocomposites was tested after being soaked in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution for 10 days and their surfaces were then examined with XRD and SEM. In addition, the antibacterial behavior of these samples was tested against E. coli and S. aureus by the disc-diffusion method. The results obtained indicated that the sample with the highest BG content possessed the best bioactivity, antibacterial effect, physical and mechanical properties. Based on these results, the prepared nanocomposites can be used in various biomedical applications.