Analysis of structure, bioactivity and hardness of titanium incorporated bioactive glass

Abstract

A series of bioactive glass composition were prepared, and the effects of TiO2 addition on the structure, bioactivity and hardness of the glasses were analyzed. This study consisted of glass characterization, simulated body fluid (SBF) trials, and hardness testing. Three glasses were formulated, where a SiO2-CaO-Na2O-P2O5 bioactive glass was used as control, with the addition of 5 and 10 wt.% TiO2 at the expense of CaO. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed that an amorphous microstructure was obtained for all three glasses. Differential thermal analysis indicated an increase in the glass transition temperature of the glass series from 660°C to 721°C with the incorporation of TiO2. Hot stage microscopy results exhibited higher sintering and softening temperatures for TiO2 containing glasses. Each glass was then incubated in SBF for 1, 10, and 30 days. Scanning electron microscopy images confirmed that the calcium phosphate particulates were precipitated on control glass after 10 days, however, for TiO2 containing glasses, the deposition layer was only observed after 30 days. The hardness of SBF incubated samples were tested, where TiO2 containing glasses showed significantly higher hardness values at each incubation period, with 0.72 GPa for control and 1.71 GPa for the TiO2 containing glass, after 30 days of incubation.