Surface modifications of alumina–silica glass fiber

Abstract A commercial glass fiber with Al₂O₃ (68.4%) and SiO₂ (27.6%) as major components and CaO, TiO₂, Fe₂O₃, and CuO as minor components was used as substrate in a silica sol–gel coating process. After cleaning, fiber samples were immersed into tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) at room temperature for 1 h, and then individual fiber samples were soaked into a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution,1 and removed after 5, 10, 15, and 20 days. Zeta potential and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analyses showed that the fiber surfaces were effectively coated with a silica layer, which improved the formation of an HA layer upon immersion into SBF solution for 5 days. The coating became even more continuous after 10‐day immersion. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic (FTIR) analyses confirmed that the coating layer has PO vibration bands characteristic of hydroxyapatite (HA) near 1060 and 600 cm⁻¹. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 70B: 378–383, 2004