Influence of bioactive glass addition on the machinability, mechanical and biological response of Mg-PSZ-based biocomposites

Abstract

The incorporation of bioactive glass (BG) into zirconia-based composite materials shows a feasible option to enhance the biological properties, reduce the sintering temperature, and resist the transformation of the tetragonal phase of zirconia. In this present work, the bioceramic composites, having the general formula [(100-x) (8 Mg-PSZ) – x (13–93 BG)] where x = 0 to 25 wt%, have been prepared and evaluated the effect of BG amounts on the machinability, mechanical and biological behavior of the composite material. The machining experiment is performed on an abrasive air jet machine (AAJM), and machinability is evaluated in the form of material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (SR), and mechanics of material erosion (MME) at room temperature. The machinability results show that MRR decreases with enhancing the BG contents, and the SR follows the opposite trend of MRR. The MME indicates that the material is removed from the surface mainly due to the erosion crater and brittle fracture. Further, mechanical properties are evaluated, and it is found that the inclusion of BG frits and sintering temperature is substantially associated with the relative densities and the mechanical characteristics. Adding BG reinforcements increases the mechanical characteristics at lower sintering temperatures (1250 °C) while reducing the mechanical characteristics except hardness at higher sintering temperatures (1350 °C). Elastic modulus decreases with the addition of BG content up to 15 wt%; after that, it slightly increases up to 25 wt%. The in-vitro bioactivity and bio-degradation are tested in simulated body fluid (SBF), and both are increased by enhancing the BG contents up to 25 wt%. The in-vitro cell culture is performed on the MG-63 cell line. The biocompatibility increases with BG concentration (up to 25 wt%). Based on experimental results, it may be concluded that 8 Mg-PSZ/13-93BG bioceramic composites may be a potential choice for biomedical applications.