Characterizing the Properties of 70Si-30Ca Bioglass-Magnesia Composite as Hard Tissue Replacement Bio-Materials

There are many requirements for biomaterials used in the applications of bone tissue engineering, besides their biocompatibility, they should exhibit acceptable mechanical properties to mimic bone properties. Many research areas in bioactive materials for bone tissue engineering focused on producing new bioactive glass and ceramic compositions containing a trace of inorganic elements (such as Mg, Sr, Cu, Zn) to combine the mechanical properties and bioactivity. In the present study bioglass-MgO composite material has been used to produce Diopside (CaMgSi2O6) by the sintering process. The compact samples were made from a mixture powder of (7, 15)wt% MgO and binary bioglass 70Si-30Ca sintered at 1100 ᵒC for 2 hr. The XRD results confirmed the presence of diopside and wollastonite CaSiO3 in the case of using 7wt.% MgO while the structure was completely diopside at 15 Wt.% MgO. Physical properties, compressive strength, and hardness were investigated, as well as biodegradation behavior and bioactivity in human saliva were inspected. The results confirmed improving the mechanical properties along with increasing MgO as well as proved the ability to form hydroxyapatite on the surface when exposed to human saliva. These findings demonstrated the positive role of MgO in the mechanical properties of 70Si-30Ca bioactive glass besides producing diopside as a good candidate for hard tissue engineering.