Characteristics of Glass Ionomer Cements Composed of Glass Powders in CaO-SrO-ZnO-SiO2 System Prepared by Two Different Synthetic Routes

Glass ionomer cements (GICs) are composed of an acid degradable glass, polyacrylic acid and water. Sol-gel processing to prepare the glass phase has certain advantages, such as the ability to employ lower synthesis temperatures than melt quenching and glasses that are reported to have higher purity. A previous study reported the effects of glass synthesis route on GIC fabrication. However, in that study, the sol-gel derived glass exhibited a reduced concentration of cations. This study investigates increasing the cation content of a sol-gel derived glass, 12CaO·4SrO·36ZnO·48SiO2 (molar ratio) by heating before aging to reduce dissolution of cations. This glass was prepared by both sol-gel and melt-quenched routes. GICs were subsequently prepared using both glasses. The resultant cement based on the sol-gel derived glass had a shorter working time than the cement based on the melt-quenched one. Contrary to this, setting time was considerably longer for the cement based on the sol-gel derived glass than for the cement based on the melt-quenched one. The cements based on the sol-gel derived glass were stronger in both compression and biaxial flexure than the cements prepared from the melt-quenched glass. The differences in setting and mechanical properties were associated with both cation content in the glass phase and the different surface area of the resultant cements. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Characterization of Silica-Based and Borate-Based, Titanium-Containing Bioactive Glasses for Coating Metallic Implants

Bioactive glasses have found applications in diverse fields, including orthopedics and dentistry, where they have been utilized for the fixation of bone and teeth and as scaffolds for drug delivery. The present work outlines the characterization of two novel titanium-containing glass series, one silica-based and one borate-based. For the silica-based series, titanium is added at the expense of silicon dioxide whereas for the borate-based series, it is added at the expense of boron oxide as confirmed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. Amorphous structures are obtained for silica-based glass at 15 mol% TiO2 and for borate-based glasses at 0 mol% and 5 mol%, with low crystal peak intensities exhibited within the remaining glasses. MAS-NMR proves the role of P2O5 as a network modifier for both glass series by evidencing only Q0 structures (and Q1 structures for the silica-based glasses with crystal structures), whereas FTIR proves that Ti acted as a network modifier in the glass as there was an absence of peaks assignable to titanium bonding. This implies that the two glass series will degrade in-situ and release ions at the site of implantation. Additionally, thermal data sourced from these glasses indicate processing windows which make them suitable for enameling onto implants, with the borate-based series exhibiting greater processing windows over the silica-based series, hence making the borate glasses more suitable for coating metallic implants compared to their silica-based counterparts

Effects of strontium substitution on bioactivity of hydroxyapatite

Effect of strontium (Sr) substitution on bioactivity of hydroxyapatite (HA) was investigated. The substitution of Sr2+ for Ca2+ in the HA lattice increases biodegradability of Sr-substituted HA (Sr-HA) and accelerates the formation of apatite crystals on the Sr-HA surface. Moreover, the dissolution products from HA and Sr-HA samples are not cyto-toxic

Investigating the Addition of SiO2-CaO-ZnO-Na2O-TiO2 Bioactive Glass to Hydroxyapatite: Characterization, Mechanical Properties and Bioactivity

Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) is widely investigated as an implantable material for hard tissue restoration due to its osteoconductive properties. However, hydroxyapatite in bulk form is limited as its mechanical properties are insufficient for load-bearing orthopedic applications. Attempts have been made to improve the mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite, by incorporating ceramic fillers, but the resultant composite materials require high sintering temperatures to facilitate densification, leading to the decomposition of hydroxyapatite into tricalcium phosphate, tetra-calcium phosphate and CaO phases. One method of improving the properties of hydroxyapatite is to incorporate bioactive glass particles as a second phase. These typically have lower softening points which could possibly facilitate sintering at lower temperatures. In this work, a bioactive glass (SiO2-CaO-ZnO-Na2O-TiO2) is incorporated (10, 20 and 30 wt%) into hydroxyapatite as a reinforcing phase. X-ray diffraction confirmed that no additional phases (other than hydroxyapatite) were formed at a sintering temperature of 560° with up to 30 wt% glass addition. The addition of the glass phase increased the % crystallinity and the relative density of the composites. The biaxial flexural strength increased to 36 MPa with glass addition, and there was no significant change in hardness as a function of maturation. The pH of the incubation media increased to pH 10 or 11 through glass addition, and ion release profiles determined that Si, Na and P were released from the composites. Calcium phosphate precipitation was encouraged in simulated body fluid with the incorporation of the bioactive glass phase, and cell culture testing in MC-3T3 osteoblasts determined that the composite materials did not significantly reduce cell viability

Influence of Gallium on the Surface Properties of Zinc based Glass Polyalkenoate Cements

This study investigates the effect of gallium (Ga) additions, substituting for zinc (Zn), on the physio-chemical surface properties of aluminium-free glass polyalkenoate cements (GPCs). Substituting Zn with Ga resulted in a significant increase in hydrophilicity and thusly wettability, as shown by a decrease in water contact angle. Increasing Ga resulted in increased Zn release, irrespective of decreasing Zn content of the starting glass. This resulted in increased antibacterial efficiency, against Escherichia coli, but not Staphylococcus epidermidis. Ga was shown to have no effect on antibacterial efficiency. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Characterization of silica-based and borate-based, titanium-containing bioactive glasses for coating metallic implants

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Bioactive glasses have found applications in diverse fields, including orthopedics and dentistry, where they have been utilized for the fixation of bone and teeth and as scaffolds for drug delivery. The present work outlines the characterization of two novel titanium-containing glass series, one silica-based and one borate-based. For the silica-based series, titanium is added at the expense of silicon dioxide whereas for the borate-based series, it is added at the expense of boron oxide as confirmed by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy. Amorphous structures are obtained for silica-based glass at 15 mol% TiO2 and for borate-based glasses at 0 mol% and 5 mol%, with low crystal peak intensities exhibited within the remaining glasses. MAS-NMR proves the role of P2O5 as a network modifier for both glass series by evidencing only Q0 structures (and Q1 structures for the silica-based glasses with crystal structures), whereas FTIR proves that Ti acted as a network modifier in the glass as there was an absence of peaks assignable to titanium bonding. This implies that the two glass series will degrade in-situ and release ions at the site of implantation. Additionally, thermal data sourced from these glasses indicate processing windows which make them suitable for enameling onto implants, with the borate-based series exhibiting greater processing windows over the silica-based series, hence making the borate glasses more suitable for coating metallic implants compared to their silica-based counterparts

Investigating the addition of SiO2–CaO–ZnO–Na2O–TiO2 bioactive glass to hydroxyapatite: Characterization, mechanical properties and bioactivity

Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) is widely investigated as an implantable material for hard tissue restoration due to its osteoconductive properties. However, hydroxyapatite in bulk form is limited as its mechanical properties are insufficient for load-bearing orthopedic applications. Attempts have been made to improve the mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite, by incorporating ceramic fillers, but the resultant composite materials require high sintering temperatures to facilitate densification, leading to the decomposition of hydroxyapatite into tricalcium phosphate, tetra-calcium phosphate and CaO phases. One method of improving the properties of hydroxyapatite is to incorporate bioactive glass particles as a second phase. These typically have lower softening points which could possibly facilitate sintering at lower temperatures. In this work, a bioactive glass (SiO2-CaO-ZnO-Na2O-TiO2) is incorporated (10, 20 and 30 wt%) into hydroxyapatite as a reinforcing phase. X-ray diffraction confirmed that no additional phases (other than hydroxyapatite) were formed at a sintering temperature of 560° with up to 30 wt% glass addition. The addition of the glass phase increased the % crystallinity and the relative density of the composites. The biaxial flexural strength increased to 36 MPa with glass addition, and there was no significant change in hardness as a function of maturation. The pH of the incubation media increased to pH 10 or 11 through glass addition, and ion release profiles determined that Si, Na and P were released from the composites. Calcium phosphate precipitation was encouraged in simulated body fluid with the incorporation of the bioactive glass phase, and cell culture testing in MC-3T3 osteoblasts determined that the composite materials did not significantly reduce cell viability