Fabrication of bioactive transparent glass ceramics 55SiO2–25Na2O-(15-x)CaO–5P2O5- xZrO2 (0≤x≤6): Physical, structural and in vitro cell viability insights for biomedical applications

Abstract

Zirconia (ZrO2) reinforced transparent glass ceramics (TGCs) are excellent materials for enhanced cell viability and biocompatibility for biomedical applications. Herein, ZrO2 doped SiO2–Na2O–CaO–P2O5 base compositions derived from traditional melt-quench technique. The impacts of ZrO2 on the physical, structural, optical, morphological, and biological evaluation were studied. XRD discloses the major phase formation of buchwaldite (CaNaPO4) and disodium calcium silicate (Na2CaSiO4). Density of the TGC samples was calculated and found to be in the range of 2.535–2.910 g/cm3. The optical parameters, and particle size were estimated and analyzed. Herein, ZrO2 plays a significant role as a network modifier and various bond assignments in the glassy network that confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Surface morphology and its elemental investigations were also studied using SEM and XPS techniques. Solid state NMR spectrum on 23Na, 29Si, and 31P nucleus were studied for various interactions. Moreover, the cell viability of the fabricated samples on the cancer cells were analyzed and resulted to possess the half maximum inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of the samples were calculated and valued to be 92 to 40 μg/ml respectively. The sample 55SiO2–25Na2O–9CaO–5P2O5–6ZrO2 (BG4) demonstrated a remarkable biological activity for bone regeneration and implants. Further, the cell cytotoxicity was evaluated by performing trypan blue assay, DAPI and DCFH-DA staining on the TGC samples. The data assembled in this research approves the hypothesis that the TGCs represent a feasible material for the biomedical applications for bone and tooth implants.