Research of borosilicate glass with strontium on bioactivity and biodegradability in vitro

Abstract

The bioactivity and biodegradability of the borate-based glasses containing different strontium contents (n(Sr)=0, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12 mol%) were investigated in this paper. The glass particles with the size of 150-300 μm were prepared by a melting process, then the samples were immersed in 0.02 mol/L K2HPO4 solution at 37°C to research their properties of bioactivity and biodegradability. During the immersion experiment, the mass loss and pH value were measured. And the XRD and SEM were used to characterize the conversed products. The results prove that the Sr-borosilicate bioactive glasses have good biodegradability and bioactivity; in the K2HPO4 solution, they can converse to Sr-HA. SrO introduced into the borosilicate bioactive glass can change the degradation of the glass. This means the borate releasing from the glass can be controlled through the change of the strontium oxide content, therefore, the toxic of borate can be to avoided to some extent. When n(SrO)=6 mol% in the composition, the degradation rate are the lowest, and the borate releasing from the glass is at the minimum. Consequently, the Sr-borosilicate bioactive glass show potential application in bone tissue engineering.