The effect of plaster (CaSO4•1/2H2O) on the compressive strength, self-setting property, and in vitro bioactivity of silicate-based bone cement

Bone cements have been widely used for orthopedic applications. Previous studies have shown that calcium silicon-based bone cements (CSC) were injectable, bioactive, biodegradable, and mechanically strong in the long term, while their short-term compressive strength was low and setting time was too long. On the other hand, plaster (CaSO4.1/2H2O, POP) sets quickly upon contact with water and has excellent short-term compressive strength. The aim of this study is to prepare CSC/POP composite cements and investigate the effect of POP on the compressive strength, setting time, injectability, degradation, and in vitro bioactivity of the composite cements. The results have shown that POP content plays an important role to modulate the physicochemical property of CSC. The addition of POP into CSC significantly decreased the initial and final setting time and enhanced the short-term compressive strength and degradation rate. The obtained composite cement with 30% POP has been found to possess optimal setting time and short-term compressive strength. In addition, the prepared composite cements still maintain apatite-mineralization ability in simulated body fluids and their ionic extracts have no significant cytotoxicity to L929 cells. The results suggested that the addition of POP into CSC is a viable method to improve their setting properties and short-term compressive strength. The obtained composite cements with the optimized composition of 70% CSC and 30% POP could be potentially used for bone repair application. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2013.