Bioactive and bioresorbable composite was fabricated by a solvent evaporation technique using poly-L-lactide(PLLA) and bioactive glass (average particle size: 6.8 μm). Bioactive glass granules are homogeneously distributed in the composite with microcrack structure. The formation of hydroxyapatite(HA) on the composite in simulated body fluid(SBF) was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS), X-ray diffraction(XRD), and Raman spectra. Rod-like HA crystals deposit on the surface of PLLA/bioactive glass composite after soaking for 3 d. Both rod-like crystals and HA layer form on the surface for 14 d in SBF. The high bioactivity of PLLA/bioactive glass composite indicates the potential of materials for integration with bone.
Poly-L-lactide(PLLA) was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization from high purity L-lactide with tin octoate as initiator, and characterized by means of infrared, and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance. The influences of initiator concentration, polymerization temperature and polymerization time on the viscosity average molecular mass of PLLA were investigated. The effects of different purification methods on the concentration of initiator and viscosity average molecular mass were also studied. PLLA with a viscosity average molecular mass of about 50.5×104 was obtained when polymerization was conducted for 24 h at 140 ℃ with the molar ratio of monomer to purification initator being 12 000. After purification, the concentration of tin octoate decreases; however, the effect of different purification methods on the viscosity average molecular mass of PLLA is different, and the obtained PLLA is a typical amorphous polymeric material. The crystallinity of PLLA decreases with the increase of viscosity average molecular mass.
Bioactive glass is well known for its ability of bone regeneration, and sol-gel bioactive glass has many advantages compared with melt-derived bioactive glass. 3-D scaffold prepared by the sol-gel method is a promising substrate material for bone tissue engineering and large-scale bone repair. Porous sol-gel glass in the CaO-SiO2-P205 system with macropores larger than 100 μm was prepared by the addition of stearic acid as a pore former. The diameter of the pore created by the pore former varied from 100 to 300 μm. The formation of a hydroxyapatite layer on the glass was analyzed by studying the surface of the porous glass by scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectra after they had been immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF) for some time, and the porous glass shows good bioactivity.
With sol-gel method,nanometer La-Ti composite oxides were prepared.By means of atomic force microscope,the surface pattern,particle size distribution and specific surface area were studied.The newly prepared nanocrystals of La-Ti composite oxides were used as the catalysts to catalyze the dehydration of external compensated lactic acid to lactide.The lactide product was measured by polarimeter and micropolariscope.The results demonstrate that the ratio between D-lactide and L-lactide will not be equal to 1-1 if nanocrystals of La-Ti composite oxides are used as the catalysts,which implies,that nanocrystals of La-Ti composite oxides may be potential catalysts with a good selectivity.
Sintering shrinkage, compressive strength, bending strength, chemical composition and their relationships with mi-crostructure of HA-Ti and HA-BG-Ti biomaterials were studied. The results show that sintering shrinkage curve of HA-BG-Ti composite changes just like S shape (23.1%-16.2%-21.8%-17.1%) with increase of Ti content, and sintering shrinkage of HA-BG-Ti composite is always higher than that of HA-Ti composite. The approach also indicates that compressive strength and bending strength of HA-BG-Ti composite are always higher than that of HA-Ti composite. Basically, with its compressive strength and bending strength equaling to 211.5 MPa and 132.1 MPa respectively, HA-10 vol. pct BG-60 vol. pct Ti composite can meet the mechanical properties requirements of the outer dense bulk. Furthermore, microstructure analysis shows that interfacial integration of HA-BG-Ti composite is better than that of HA-Ti composite. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) and SEM-EDAX analysis, brittle new phases including calcium titanate and calcium carbonate are detected in HA-Ti composite. New phases in HA-Ti composite and complex strong binding force accompanied by elemental diffusion of Si, Ti in HA-BG-Ti composite can explain theoretically the great difference of mechanical properties of HA-Ti and HA-BG-Ti composites.