Crystallization Behavior And In Vitro Bioactivity Of Bioactive Glasses In The System Mgo-Cao-P2o2-Sio2

Crystallization behavior and in vitro bioactivity of the bioactive glasses in the system MgO-CaO-P2O5-SiO2 were studied. Crystallization of bulk glasses led to the formation of large cracks in crystallized product that was attributed to the precipitation of fibrous b-wollastonite crystals growing perpendicular to the outer surface of the glasses. Crack-free dense crystallized products were formed by crystallization of the same glasses in a powder compact. By substituting SiO2 for P2O5, there was no change in the kind of formed crystalline phases but the apatite contents decreased and wollastonite contents increased. The whitlockite phase was formed when glass powder compacts were heated above wollastonite crystallization temperature. The in vitro bioactivity of the glasses and glass-ceramics was evaluated by examining apatite layer formation on their surfaces in the simulated body fluid (SBF) with SEM/EDXA. All samples showed an apatite layer on their surfaces after immersion in SBF.