Organic solvent-free synthesis of dendritic mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles with remineralization capability

Dendritic mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (DMBGNs) are emerging biomaterials for various biomedical applications. However, their synthesis usually involves extensive volatile organic solvents, causing significant environmental and economic issues. We report an organic solvent-free strategy to produce DMBGNs, in which cationic and anionic surfactants were used as dual templates free of organic solvents to assemble silicate nanoparticles before incorporation of Ca by impregnation. The Ca incorporation did not affect the dendritic mesoporous structure of the nanoparticles. DMBGNs exhibited remineralization capacity as evidenced by hydroxyapatite (HA) formation after soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF). The results indicate the feasibility of the proposed organic solvent-free, two-step strategy for producing DMBGNs highlighting also the great potential of DMBGNs as remineralization agents.