Substitutions of cerium, gallium and zinc in ordered mesoporous bioactive glasses

Ordered mesoporous glasses based on the 80% SiO2–15% CaO–5% P2O5 system including up to 3.5% Ce2O3, 3.5% Ga2O3 or 7.0% ZnO (in mol.%) were synthesized by the evaporation-induced self-assembly process using Pluronic® 123 as a surfactant. An ordered hexagonal mesophase was observed in both the unsubstituted glass (denoted in this paper as B: blank) and glasses containing <0.4% of substituent by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The increase in the amount of substituent led to a decrease in the mesopore order. B glass exhibited good textural properties: SBET = 515 m2 g−1, DP = 4.7 nm and VP = 0.58 cm3 g−1. With the inclusion of cerium, gallium and zinc oxides the textural properties decreased, but remained in amounts useful for clinical applications. Zinc-containing samples showed the highest decrement in the textural properties. Substituted glasses exhibited a quick in vitro bioactive response except when the ZnO content was over 0.4%. Taking into account the ordered mesoporosity, the quick in vitro bioactive response and the added values of the substituents, this new family of glasses are promising candidates for applications in bone tissue engineering.