Calcium silicate sol-gel derived amorphous materials incorporating silver, zinc, or cupper ions: Effects of ion type and sample amount on antibacterial properties and cell compatibility.

Calcium silicate sol-gel derived amorphous materials incorporated with one of three antibacterial metal ions, silver, zinc, or copper, were prepared, and their antibacterial properties and cell compatibility were evaluated using Escherichia coli and a mouse fibroblast-like cell line, respectively. In all samples, the ions derived from the constituent elements of the materials were eluted into the culture medium. However, when antibacterial and cell culture tests were conducted under the same sample concentration conditions, the amount of eluted ions, including antibacterial metal ions, differed depending on the test. Furthermore, the variation in the elution amount depended on the type of antibacterial metal ion. Both antibacterial properties and cell compatibility were confirmed only in the zinc-containing samples. In addition, the prepared materials can be shaped into fibrous forms with cotton-wool-like structures by electrospinning. These materials are expected to serve as flexible bone grafts with antibacterial properties and therapeutic ion-providing ability.