Influence of phosphate precursors on the incorporation of phosphorus and dopants into mesoporous bioactive glasses prepared by self-assembly induced evaporation

Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly (EISA) is a widely used method for synthesizing mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles (MBGNPs) with uniform pore structures and in vitro bioactivity suitable for bone regeneration. Although EISA enables the preparation of phosphorus-containing MBGNPs (e.g., 80SiO 2 –15CaO–5P 2 O 5 ), the actual phosphorus content is often lower than the targeted composition due to limited precursor hydrolysis. This paper reports an optimized EISA approach to achieve controlled P 2 O 5 incorporation by modifying synthesis conditions and replacing triethyl phosphate (TEP) with diethyl phosphate (DEP). The use of DEP significantly enhances phosphorus incorporation efficiency and allows the successful incorporation of Cu–Mg and Cu–Sr dopants without disrupting the mesoporous structure. These findings highlight that appropriate precursor selection and process optimization are crucial for precise compositional control in doped mesoporous bioactive glasses synthesized via EISA.