Investigating the solubility and cytocompatibility of CaO–Na 2 O–SiO 2 /TiO 2 bioactive glasses

This study aims to investigate the solubility of a series of titanium (TiO 2 )‐containing bioactive glasses and their subsequent effect on cell viability. Five glasses were synthesized in the composition range SiO 2 –Na 2 O–CaO with 5 mol % of increments TiO 2 substituted for SiO 2 . Glass solubility was investigated with respect to (1) exposed surface area, (2) particle size, (3) incubation time, and (4) compositional effects. Ion release profiles showed that sodium (Na + ) presented high release rates after 1 day and were unchanged between 7 and 14 days. Calcium (Ca 2+ ) release presented a significant change at each time period and was also composition dependent, where a reduction in Ca 2+ release is observed with an increase in TiO 2 concentration. Silica (Si 4+ ) release did not present any clear trends while no titanium (Ti 4+ ) was released. Cell numbers were found to increase up to 44%, compared to the growing control population, with a reduction in particle size and with the inclusion of TiO 2 in the glass composition. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 103A: 709–720, 2015.