Suspensions of bioactive glass (BG) powder (45S5 composition) in water/ethanol mixtures (from 0 to 100 vol.% of ethanol) intended for electrophoretic deposition (EPD) have been studied focusing on the effects of zeta potential on colloidal stability. The interactions between the negatively charged BC particles in a 20 vol.% ethanol suspension containing different polymers (synthetic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethilenimine, polyacrylic acid and polyvinyl alcohol, as well as natural polymers such as chitosan and alginate) were established in order to investigate the colloidal behavior of BG particles as a function of polymer functional groups. It was found that both the chemical nature of the polymer (anionic, neutral or cationic) and the configuration of the polymer chain play important roles on the stabilization mechanism of BC particles. In addition, the optimal polymer content which is required to obtain homogeneous and reproducible coatings by EPD was studied for the mentioned synthetic polymers and the resulting coatings were characterized in terms of microstructure and composition. The bioactivity of selected coatings was evaluated by immersion in simulated body fluid. (C) 2015 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.