Zirconia ceramics
with high mechanical properties have been used
as a load-bearing implant in the dental and orthopedic surgery. However,
poor bone bonding properties and high elastic modulus remain a challenge.
Calcium silicate (CaSi)-based ceramic can foster osteoblast adhesion,
growth, and differentiation and facilitate bone ingrowth. This study
was to prepare CaSi-ZrO
2
composites and evaluate their
mechanical properties, long-term stability, in vitro osteogenic activity,
and antibacterial ability. The
Escherichia coli
(
E. coli
) and
Staphylococcus aureus
(
S. aureus
) bacteria and human mesenchymal stem
cells (hMSCs) were used to evaluate the antibacterial and osteogenic
activities of implants in vitro, respectively. Results indicated that
the three-point bending strength of ZrO
2
was 486 MPa and
Young’s modulus was 128 GPa, which were much higher than those
of the cortical bone. In contrast, the bending strength and modulus
of 20% (201 MPa and 48 GPa, respectively) and 30% CaSi (126 MPa and
20 GPa, respectively) composites were close to the reported strength
and modulus of the cortical bone. As expected, higher CaSi content
implants significantly enhanced cell growth, differentiation, and
mineralization of hMSCs. It is interesting to note the induction ability
of CaSi in osteogenic differentiation of hMSCs even when cultured
in the absence of an osteogenic differentiation medium. The composite
with the higher CaSi contents exhibited the greater bacteriostatic
effect against
E. coli
and
S. aureus
. In conclusion, the addition of 20 wt %
CaSi can effectively improve the mechanical biocompatibility, osteogenesis,
and antibacterial activity of ZrO
2
ceramics, which may
be a potential choice for load-bearing applications.