Bioactive glass microspheres as reinforcement for improving the mechanical properties and biological performance of poly(e-μ-caprolactone) polymer for bone tissue regeneration

Bo Lei, Kwan Ha Shin, Da Young Noh, Young Hag Koh, Won Young Choi, Hyoun Ee Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study examined the utility of sol-gel-derived bioactive glass microspheres (BGMs) as a reinforcement to improve the mechanical properties and biological performance of poly(eμ-caprolactone) (PCL) polymer. All of the PCL-BGMs composites produced, with a variety of BGMs contents (10, 20, and 30 wt %), showed a uniform distribution of the BGMs in the PCL matrix, particularly owing to their spherical shape and small size. This led to a considerable increase in the elastic modulus from 93 ± 12 MPa to 635 ± 179 MPa with increasing BGMs content from 0 to 30 wt %. Furthermore, the addition of the BGMs to the PCL polymer significantly increased the hydrophilicity of the PCL-BGMs composites, which led to a higher water absorption and degradation rate. The PCL-BGMs composite with a BGMs content of 30 wt % showed vigorous growth of apatite crystals with a high aspect ratio on its surface after soaking in the simulated body fluid for 7 days, resulting in the creation of a porous carbonate hydroxyapatite layer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)967-975
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part B Applied Biomaterials
Volume100 B
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 May

Keywords

  • bioactive glass
  • composite
  • mechanical properties
  • polymer
  • sol-gel

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomaterials
  • Biomedical Engineering

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