“Green” synthesis of highly ordered mesoporous bioactive glass using acetic anhydride as the catalyst

Abstract Mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) of CaO–SiO 2 –P 2 O 5 was synthesized using nonionic block copolymer (EO 20 PO 70 EO 20 , P123) and acetic anhydride as the template and catalyst, respectively. It was inferred that acetic anhydride could accelerate the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate and the obtained by-product of acetic acid was harmless to the environment. The TEM analysis indicated that the synthesized MBG had two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal mesostructures, and the measured BET surface area, pore volume and pore diameter were 499 m 2 /g, 0.70 cm 3 /g and 6.1 nm, respectively. Moreover, the synthesized MBG showed an excellent bioactivity in vitro as assessed by immersion studies in simulated body fluid (SBF). In a word, this work presents a simple and environment friendly route for synthesizing MBG by use of acetic anhydride as the catalyst and would find potential applications in tissue engineering and other fields.