Biocompatibility of New SiO2 Anti-Bacterial Material Synthesized by Sol–Gel Route

Silica material is prepared through sol–gel route using tetramethylorthosilicate as alkoxide precursor. The material is characterized by Fourier transformed InfraRed spectroscopy, and its amorphous state is ascertained by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The SiO2 sol–gel bio-glass shows antibacterial activity towards the Gram-negative Escherichia coli with a clear halo zone diameter. Furthermore, in order to assess biocompatibility, a primary fibroblast cell line is seeded on biomaterial fragments, sterilized, and directly introduced inside the culture dishes. To show the relations between biomaterial-cultured cells, a morphological study is performed by light microscopy during all the incubation time and finally the cultures are stopped after 7, 14, and 21 days of incubation. A suitable biocompatibility of the SiO2 sol–gel bio-glass is observed. In fact, cells maintained their conventional star shape and the monolayer stratified at the dish bottom show only minimal disruption in the biomaterial-rubbing points, without any other morphological alteration.