Temporal zeta potential variations of 45S5 bioactive glass immersed in an electrolyte solution

45S5 bioactive glass (BG) is a bioactive material known to bond to bone in vivo through a surface calcium phosphate (Ca-P) layer. The goal of this study was to address the importance of BG surface charge in the bioactive response by examining the relationship between charge variations and the formation of the surface Ca-P layer. The zeta potential of BG in an electrolyte solution (TE) was measured by particle electrophoresis, and the formation of a Ca-P layer was characterized using SEM, EDXA, and FTIR. Si, Ca, and P solution concentrations also were determined. The initial BG surface was negatively charged, and two sign reversals were detected during 3 days of immersion. The first, from negative to positive after 1 day, is attributed to the adsorption of cations at the BG surface, and the second reversal was due to the precipitation of phosphate ions from solution. A strong correlation was found between the formation of a Ca-P layer and BG surface zeta potential variations. The dynamic shift in zeta potential from an initially negative surface to a positively charged surface directly corresponded with the formation of an amorphous Ca-P layer. In addition, when the glass surface matured into a crystalline Ca-P layer, it was associated with a reversal from a positive to a negative surface. Future work will focus on the effects of protein adsorption on BG surface charge and Ca-P layer formation kinetics as well as on cellular response to a changing BG surface.