Surface treatment of sol-gel bioglass using dielectric barrier discharge plasma to enhance growth of hydroxyapatite

Surface treatment of sol-gel bioglass is required to increase its biomedical applications. In this study, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma treatment in atmospheric pressure was performed on the surface of [$SiO_2-CaO-P_2O_5-B_2O_3$] sol-gel derived glass. The obtained bioglass was treated by plasma using discharge current 12 mA with an exposure period for 30 min. The type of discharge can be characterized by measuring the discharge current and applied potential waveform and the power dissipation. Apatite formation on the surface of the DBD-treated and untreated samples after soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF) at $37^{\circ}C$ is characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), inductively coupled plasma (ICP-OES) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). We observed a marked increase in the amount of apatite deposited on the surface of the treated plasma samples than those of the untreated ones, indicating that DBD plasma treatment is an efficient method and capable of modifying the surface of glass beside effectively transforming it into highly bioactive materials.