Effect of surfactant concentration on characteristics of mesoporous bioactive glass prepared by evaporation induced self-assembly process

Mesoporous bioactive glasses were prepared by the evaporation-induced self-assembly method. The main objective of the present study is to determine the effect of surfactant concentration on the synthesis of SiO2–CaO–P2O5 mesoporous bioactive glasses; the characterization techniques used include X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. The results show that the specific surface area initially increased with increasing surfactant concentrations in the range of 2.1–9.1 wt% and significantly decreased from 328.7 to 204.0 m2/g in the concentration range of 9.1–12.5 wt%. For texture evaluation, the selected area electron diffraction patterns of the mesoporous bioactive glass precursor gels (9.1 wt% F127) calcined at different temperatures were analyzed; these patterns support the notion that some glassy structures in bioactive glasses become crystalline following heat treatment. The scanning electron microscopy images and X-ray diffraction patterns obtained agree with the inductively coupled plasma with atomic emission spectroscopy results as the mesoporous bioactive glasses can induce the formation of an apatite-like layer on their surface in SBF, even after short soaking periods.