Physical and Biocompatibility Studies of Novel Titanium Dioxide Doped Phosphate-based Glasses for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

This study investigated doping titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) into phosphate glasses, 50 P(2)O(5)-30 CaO-20 Na(2)O, to control their degradation rate and enhance their biological response to be suitable scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. The thermal and structural properties were analysed using differential thermal analysis and X-ray powder diffraction. The effect of TiO(2) incorporation on degradation rate, ion release, and pH changes was also carried out. In vitro cyto-biocompatibility was assessed through MG63 human osteosarcoma cells attachment and viability using scanning electron microscopy and confocal microscopy, respectively. The results showed that addition of TiO(2) produced a significant increase in density and glass transition temperature. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the presence of NaCa(PO(3))(3) as a main phase of these glasses with titanium phosphate Ti-P(2)O(7) only detected for 5 mol% TiO(2) glasses. The degradation rate, however, was significantly reduced by one order of magnitude with incorporation of 5 mol% TiO(2) which has been reflected in released ions (cations and anions) and the minimal pH changes. Moreover, addition of TiO(2), 3 and 5 mol% in particular, supported the MG63 cells attachment and maintained high cell viability up to 7 days culture comparable to Thermanox. These results suggested that TiO(2) containing phosphate glasses can be a promising substrate for bone tissue engineering applications.