Investigating the effect of germanium on the structure of SiO2-ZnO-CaO-SrO-P2O5 glasses and the subsequent influence on glass polyalkenoate cement formation, solubility and bioactivity.

A series of germanium (Ge)-containing glasses were synthesized based on a starting glass composition of SiO2-ZnO-CaO-SrO-P2O5. Additions of GeO2 (6 and 12 mol%) were incorporated at the expense of SiO2, which retained the amorphous character, and each glass was processed to present similar particle size and surface area. Glass characterization using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) determined that the addition of GeO2 increased the fraction of lower Q-speciation and subsequently the concentration of non-bridging oxygens (NBO). Glass Polyalkenoate Cements (GPC) were formulated from each glass with 40, 50 and 60 wt% PAA, and presented time dependent solubility profiles (1, 10, 100, 1000 h) for the release of Si4+ (4-140 mg/l), Ca2+ (1-8 mg/l), Zn2+ (<6 mg/l), Sr2+ (2-37 mg/l), PO43- (2-43 mg/l) and Ge4+ (20-911 mg/l) and attained pH values close to 7.5 after 1000 h. Ge-GPCs containing 40 wt% polyacrylic acid (PAA) presented appropriate working time (Tw) and setting times (Ts), and the corresponding compressive strengths ranged from (14-30 MPa). The Ge-GPCs (40, 50 wt%) presented a linear increase (R2-0.99) with respect to time. Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) testing resulted in the Ge-GPCs encouraging the precipitation of crystalline hydroxyapatite on the GPC surface, more evidently after 100 and 1000 h incubation.