Synthesis and characterization of CaO-P2O5-SiO2-Li2O-Fe2O3 bioactive glasses: The effect of Li2O-Fe2O3 content on the structure and in-vitro bioactivity

CaO-P2O5-SiO2-Li2O-Fe2O3 magnetic bioactive glasses were prepared through an optimized sol-gel method. This study was emphasized on the effects of magnetic content addition on the bioactive glass properties. As the need arises, we study synthesized magnetic bioactive glass physical, rheological, and biocompatible properties. The morphology and composition of these glasses were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The particle size was also determined using a laser particle size analyzer (LPSA). The thermal measurements were put through using Differential thermal analysis (DTA). In order to evaluate the in-vitro bioactivity of synthesized glasses, the ability for apatite formation on their surface upon their immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) was checked using SEM, EDX and pH measurements. Moreover, the Ca, Si, Li and Fe ions in SBF were monitored using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The results showed that the addition of Li and Fe in the glass composition affect the formation of apatite layer onto the glass surfaces. Morphologies of the apatite layers were also different in which the bioactivity was declining with increasing Fe concentration, but the increase of Li concentration led to an increase in bioactivity, yet all of the synthesized glasses are still highly bioactive. Finally, the research proved that the synthesized magnetic bioactive glasses are nontoxic and biocompatible and they can be used as thermoseeds for cancer hyperthermia studies.