Bioactivity of CaSiO₃/poly-lactic acid (PLA) composites prepared by various surface loading methods of CaSiO₃ powder

Mixing bioactive ceramic powders with polymers is an effective method for generating bioactivity to the polymer-matrix composites but it is necessary to incorporate up to 40 vol% of bioactive ceramic powder. However, such a high mixing ratio offsets the advantages of the flexibility and formability of polymer matrix and it would be highly advantageous to lower the mixing ratio. Since surface loading of ceramic powders in the polymer is thought to be an effective way of reducing the mixing ratio of the ceramic powder while maintaining bioactive activity, CaSiO₃/poly-lactic acid (PLA) composites were prepared by three methods; (1) casting, (2) spin coating and (3) hot pressing. In methods (1) and (2), a suspension was prepared by dissolving PLA in chloroform and dispersing CaSiO₃ powder in it. The suspension was cast and dried to form a film in the case of method (1) while it was spin-coated on a PLA substrate in method (2). In method (3), CaSiO₃ powder was surface loaded on to a PLA substrate by hot pressing. The bioactivity of these samples was investigated in vitro using simulated body fluid (SBF). Apatite formation was not observed in the samples prepared by method (1) but some apatite formation was achieved by mixing polyethylene glycol (PEG) with the PLA, producing a porous polymer matrix. In method (2), apatite was clearly observed after soaking for 7 days. Enhanced apatite formation was observed in method (3), the thickness of the resulting apatite layers becoming about 20 μm after soaking for 14 days. Since the amount of CaSiO₃ powder used in these samples was only ≤0.4 vol%, it is concluded that this preparation method is very effective in generating bioactivity in polymer-matrix composites by loading with only very small amounts of ceramic powder.