Fabrication and characterization of ZrO₂ incorporated SiO₂-CaO-P₂O₅ bioactive glass scaffolds

Sol-gel chemistry offers a flexible, widely accepted methodology that enables the creation of a new generation of bioactive glass (BG). In the current study, a sol-gel method was used to synthesize ZrO₂ incorporated 56SiO₂-34CaO-10P₂O₅ mol% bioactive glass. The highly crystalline structure was composed of small zirconium oxide nanoparticles (ZrO₂) of less than 200 nm in size. It was successfully fabricated using a hydrothermal method. Polyurethane foam (PU) was selected to fabricate a highly porous BG-ZrO₂ scaffold using a foam replica technique. The physicochemical, morphological properties of the BG-ZrO₂ compositions were evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). In-vitro degradation analysis of the BG-ZrO₂ scaffolds was performed after immersion of the samples in simulated body fluid (SBF). The incorporation of ZrO₂ nanoparticles into the bioactive glass matrix enhances both the mechanical strength and thermal stability. Since the novel formed BG-ZrO₂ scaffolds possesses respectable antibacterial properties against some bacterial strains, this renders it an ideal tissue engineering substitute, capable of reducing failure rates in implants.