Different in vitro behavior of two Ca3(PO4)2 based biomaterials, a glass-ceramic and a ceramic, having the same chemical composition

In this work, the influence of the nature of two materials, with the same chemical composition, on their in vitro behavior has been studied. Two routes were used to obtain these materials with the composition 45% CaO, 22% SiO2, 28% P2O5 and 5% MgO (wt.%). The first material is a glass-ceramic obtained by melting and quenching on cold water and the second one is a ceramic obtained by conventional solid state sintering. In both cases, the raw materials used were tricalcium phosphate, talc and wollastonite. The reactivity in simulated body fluid and Tris HCl solutions was studied. Both materials showed bio active behavior, but the glass-ceramic dissolved faster, releasing large proportion of Ca and P ions, which afterwards nucleated and precipitated. However, the ceramic was more stable under the same conditions in these solutions. Glass-ceramic composite has a more open structure and allowed the faster formation of a bone-like apatite layer than the ceramic. (C) 2015 SECV. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.