Surface Treatment of 45S5 Bio-glass using Femtosecond Laser to Achieve Superior Growth of Hydroxyapatite

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that femtosecond laser surface treatment of 45S5 bio-glass significantly enhances hydroxyapatite growth, improving its potential for better bio-integration in medical applications.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel femtosecond laser surface modification technique that increases bio-glass surface area, leading to superior hydroxyapatite growth compared to untreated samples.

Findings

Laser-treated bio-glass shows faster hydroxyapatite growth.

XRD confirms increased hydroxyapatite crystallinity on treated samples.

Raman spectroscopy indicates higher crystallinity of hydroxyapatite layer.

Abstract

45S5 Hench bio-glass (BG) has gained interest in research because of its potential clinical applications. Several studies in-vivo and in-vitro have been in progress to improve bio-integration efficiency of this glass. In present contribution, surface modification of Hench BG has been done employing a femtosecond (fs) laser beam, resulting in increased effective surface area of the sample. These surface modified samples were subsequently immersed in simulated body fluid for varying number of days and characterized using Scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. In-vitro studies indicated superior growth of hydroxyapatite (HAP) layer on the laser treated samples in comparison to the untreated samples. Presence of strong XRD peaks confirmed faster growth of HAP on laser treated samples. Raman peaks, five times more intense and relatively narrower represented higher crystallinity of hydroxyapatite layer on laser treated BG.