Bio-inspired synthesis of microporous bioactive glass-ceramic using CT-DNA as a template.

We report, for the first time, bio-inspired synthesis of a bioactive glass-ceramic with superior textural properties in atmospheric conditions using CT-DNA as template. The phase composition, structure, morphology, and textural properties of the bioactive glass sample were evaluated with various analytical techniques before and after in vitro tests. The BET surface area analysis of the obtained glass-ceramic sample reveals that it possesses a high surface area with a range of (micro- to meso-) pore sizes. The TEM analysis of the glass-ceramic phase indicates that the amorphous phase consists of spherical particles, whereas the crystalline phase is found to have needle-like shape. In the glass-ceramic, we find a new type of crystalline phase (NaCa)(PSi)O, which is different from the earlier observation on 45S5® glass-ceramic sample. The accelerated in vitro bioactivity of the glass-ceramic is evidenced based on the hydroxyl carbonate apatite (HCA) layer formation on the glass-ceramic surface after immersing the bioglass sample in simulated body fluid (SBF), by FTIR, SEM and EDX analysis. Additionally, the ion release kinetics of the bioglass sample in SBF is followed by ICP-AES with simultaneous pH measurements. The in vitro cytotoxicity experiments on the glass-ceramic sample using osteosarcoma cells by following the MTT assay method indicate that the sample has good biocompatibility and may serve as an effective biomaterial for bone tissue engineering.