O. Saneei Siavashy - Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Behshahr, Iran
N. Nabian - Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Behshahr, Iran
S. M. Rabiee - Department of Mechanical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran

Nano bioactive glasses are known as suitable alternatives to repair the damaged bone tissues. In this research, novel sol-gel derived bioactive glass composites were synthesized through a reduction in the common weight percent of SiO۲ substituted by ۱۵ wt% of titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) at two different steps by the synthetic procedure. The morphology, crystalline structure, and functional groups of the composites were evaluated through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analyses. Based on the SEM images, the step in which TNTs were added to the solution completely changed the morphology of the composite. Bioactivity tests were carried out by soaking the samples in the simulated body fluid (SBF) at the intervals ­of ۱۴ and ۲۸ days followed by the investigation of hydroxyapatite (HA) layer formation on the surface of the samples. According to XRD peaks at ۲-theta angle of around ۳۱ and ۴۰ degrees, it was found that the presence of titanium dioxide nanotubes improved bioactivity after ۱۴ days of immersion and both ۵۸S-TNT composites were more bioactive than ۵۸S bioglass, while ۵۸S bioactive glass possessed more intense peaks of HA after ۲۸ days of immersion in SBF. Furthermore, the drug loading characteristic of the prepared composites was examined and the results showed that the addition of nanotubes improved the drug loading performance of bioactive composites containing TNTs up to ۷۰% compared to the ۵۸S bioglass with ۳۷% drug loading.

Bioactive nanocomposites, Titanium Dioxide Nanoubes, Bioactivity evaluation, Drug loading