title: Bioactive glass microspheres as reinforcement for improving the mechanical properties and biological performance of poly(ε-caprolactone) polymer for bone tissue regeneration.
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(ε-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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Laboratory Science and Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-703, Korea.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Kwan-Ha
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Da-Young
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Young-Hag
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Won-Young
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hyoun-Ee
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005898:Glass; D006801:Humans; D008422:Materials Testing; D044367:Phase Transition; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016062:Porosity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; C016240:polycaprolactone