Fabrication of CaO–NaO–SiO 2 /TiO 2 scaffolds for surgical applications

A series of titanium (Ti) based glasses were formulated (0.62 SiO 2 –0.14 Na 2 O–0.24 CaO, with 0.05 mol% TiO 2 substitutions for SiO 2 ) to develop glass/cera- mic scaffolds for bone augmentation. Glasses were initially characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and particle size analysis, where the starting materials were amorphous with 4.5 l m particles. Hot stage microscopy and high temperature XRD were used to determine the sintering temperature ( * 700 ° C) and any crystalline phases present in this region (Na 2 Ca 3 Si 6 O 16 , combeite and quartz). Hardness testing revealed that the Ti-free control ( ScC — 2.4 GPa) had a significantly lower hardness than the Ti-containing materials ( Sc1 and Sc2 * 6.6 GPa). Optical microscopy determined pore sizes ranging from 544 to 955 l m. X-ray microtomography calculated porosity from 87 to 93 % and surface area measurements ranging from 2.5 to 3.3 SA/mm 3 . Cytotoxicity testing (using mesen- chymal stem cells) revealed that all materials encouraged cell proliferation, particularly the higher Ti-containing scaffolds over 24–72 h