Sol-Gel Synthesis of Soda Lime Silica-Based Bioceramics Using Waste as Renewable Sources

Abstract The purpose of the work is to prepare and assess soda lime silica-based (SiO2-CaO-Na2O) bioactive ceramics using waste as renewable sources. Thus we produced a SiO2-CaO-Na2O-based bioactive ceramic by sol-gel process using rice husk and eggshells as sources of silica and calcium oxide, respectively. The precursors such as calcinated eggshell powder, rice husk ash (RHA) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were processed by the sol-gel method, resultant in SiO2-CaO-Na2O-based bioactive ceramics. The gel derived sintered sample showed combeite high (Na6Ca3Si6O18) as a major crystalline phase. Subsequently, the sintered specimens were analyzed from the physical and structural point of view, and in terms of apatite mineralization rate in simulated environments and cytocompatibility in relative to human osteoblast-like cells. The studies showed that the produced crystalline SiO2-CaO-Na2O-based ceramics showed an average porosity of 45%. In vitro evaluation of the biological properties revealed that the prepared ceramics possesses the mineralization of carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHA) in a simulated environment with good cytocompatibility and controlled degradation rate. Therefore, the results obtained suggest that the prepared SiO2-CaO-Na2O-based bioactive ceramics using waste as renewable sources might be a low cost ceramics for applications in biomedical field.