The effect of vanadium ferrite doping on the bioactivity of mesoporous bioactive glass-ceramics

Bioactive glasses are highly reactive surface materials synthesized by melting or sol-gel techniques. In this study, mesoporous bioactive glass-ceramics doped with different amounts of vanadium and iron ((60-(x + y)) SiO₂-36CaO-4P₂O₅-xV₂O₅-yFe₂O₃, x and y between 0, 5 and, 10 mole%) were synthesized using a sol-gel method. Then, their effects on particle morphology and the biomineralization process were examined in simulated body fluid (SBF). N2 adsorption isotherm analysis proved that the samples have a mesoporous structure. In addition, the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of the samples after soaking in SBF for various periods (7, 14, and 21 days) confirmed the presence of new chemical bonds related to the apatite phase, which is in accordance with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the samples after SBF soaking showed that lower amounts of vanadium and iron were associated with the formation of a stable and more crystalline phase of hydroxyapatite. The MTT results showed that the cell viability of mesoporous bioactive glass containing 5% V₂O₅ remains more than 90% over 7 days, which indicates the biocompatibility of the samples. To conclude, further studies on these formulations are going to be carried out in future investigations for chemohyperthermia application.