“Green” synthesis of highly ordered mesoporous bioactive glass using acetic anhydride as the catalyst

Mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) of CaO–SiO2–P2O5 was synthesized using nonionic block copolymer (EO20PO70EO20, P123) and acetic anhydride as the template and catalyst, respectively. It was inferred that acetic anhydride could accelerate the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate and the obtained by-product of acetic acid was harmless to the environment. The TEM analysis indicated that the synthesized MBG had two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal mesostructures, and the measured BET surface area, pore volume and pore diameter were 499 m2/g, 0.70 cm3/g and 6.1 nm, respectively. Moreover, the synthesized MBG showed an excellent bioactivity in vitro as assessed by immersion studies in simulated body fluid (SBF). In a word, this work presents a simple and environment friendly route for synthesizing MBG by use of acetic anhydride as the catalyst and would find potential applications in tissue engineering and other fields.