EN
In this work, sintered pellets of a silica-based
bioactive glass were dip-coated with a biocompatible
natural-derived polymer in order to investigate the influence
of the organic coating on the glass bioactivity. After
the sintering process optimization, uncoated and coated
pellets have been characterized by means of scanning
electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy
(SEM, EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy (FT-IR) and pH measurements, after
the immersion in a simulated body fluid (SBF). An increased
apatite forming ability and a better control of the
pH during soaking of the samples in SBF were observed in
the presence of the biopolymer. This result opens a new insight
on the simple fabrication of highly bioactive hybrid
inorganic-organic materials for medical applications.