Bioceramics in the CaMgSi₂O₆–Li₂O System: A Glass‐Ceramic Strategy for Excellent Mechanical Strength and Enhanced Bioactivity by Spontaneous Elemental Redistribution

Abstract

natural bone regeneration are an emerging approach toward the treatment of significant bone defects. In recent years, a variety of biomaterials such as bioactive glasses, [1][2][3] glass-ceramics, [4][5][6] crystalline calcium silicates (such as wollastonite [CaSiO 3 ] and larnite [Ca 2 SiO 4 ], [7,8] and calcium phosphate-based bioceramics [9,10] have been the subject of numerous investigation toward bone tissue engineering. In particular, some researchers have proposed that CaSiO 3 exhibits superior bioactivity and osseointegration properties to the widely studied hydroxyapatite (HAp), which motivates further investigation into CaSiO 3 -based materials for bone tissue repair and regeneration. [11,12] The presence of bioavailable calcium (Ca) and silicon (Si) ions in tissue engineering materials can directly influence the quality of bone as Ca is the main constituent of biological apatite and Si was reported to have the ability of inducing osteogenesis and angiogenesis. [13,14] However, it has been proposed that the poor mechanical strength and rapid dissolution rate of CaSiO 3 may hinder its biomedical application to be used as bulk implants and would be detrimental for cell growth because of a rapid increase in pH value in the surrounding environment during the first few weeks. [15,16] Magnesium-containing bioceramics have gained interest recently due to the favorable combination of properties that is A novel glass-ceramic strategy for synthesizing mixed phase diopside (CaMgSi 2 O 6 )-lithium oxide (Li 2 O) bioceramics with excellent mechanical strength, superior biodegradation resistance, low environmental pH impact, enhanced bioactivity, and reasonable biocompatibility is developed for biomedical applications. The substitution of Li 2 O for MgO in CaMgSi 2 O 6 stimulates the formation of secondary phases: CaSiO