Bioactive sol-gel borate glasses with magnesium

This study examined the effect of magnesium content on the structural, textural, and bioactive properties of five sol-gel derived borate glass formulations [(60)B2O3-(40-x)CaO-(x)MgO where x = 0, 5, 10, 20, 40 (mol%)]. Magnesium additions led to a non-linear decrease of 4-coordinated boron according to Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Compositions with up to 10 mol% MgO were highly bioactive, forming hydroxycarbonated apatite within 2 h in simulated body fluid, in vitro, according to FTIR and x-ray diffraction. However, there was a significant reduction in the specific surface area and pore volume values (textural) as well as the bioactive properties of glasses with >20 mol% magnesium. Furthermore, the Live/Dead (TM) and release of lactate dehydrogenase assays using MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic cells displayed similar levels of viability when the magnesium content was between 5 and 10 mol%, whereas an increase in mortality was observed when the magnesium content increased from 20 to 40 mol%.