Effect of borosilicate glass on the mechanical and biodegradation properties of 45S5-derived bioactive glass-ceramics

• In situ doping of 10% CBS into 45S5 Bioglass (BG) may reduce sintering temperature.
• 45S5 BG-based glass-ceramics (GC) containing 10% CBS show good mechanical strength.
• 45S5/CBS GC sintered at 850–900 °C has appreciable biodegradation and good bioactivity.
• Sol–gel-derived low-melt temperature CBS is suitable for reinforcing melt-derived BG.

The low mechanical reliability of bioactive glasses (BGs) is a critical limitation in hard tissue prosthetics. Herein, the effect of sol–gel-derived calcium borosilicate system (CBS) with low-melting temperature on the mechanical properties and biodegradation of 45S5 BG-derived bioactive glass-ceramics (BGC) was investigated. The 45S5 BG-based BGCs with 0–20% CBS content were fabricated via sintering treatment at 700–1100 °C. The results confirmed that the sintering temperature range of 850–900 °C for the 10% CBS-containing BGC (45S5/CBS10) exhibited higher compressive strength than those treated at either lower or higher temperature, and the strength was almost 2.5–3.0-fold higher than that of the pure 45S5 BGC. The 45S5/CBS10 BGCs fabricated at 850–900 °C showed excellent biodegradation and bioactivity when soaking in Tris buffer and simulated body fluid, while the compressive strength only decreased slightly. Specifically, the 45S5/CBS10 scaffolds with a porosity of ~ 70% showed ~ 8.0 MPa in compressive strength, which is comparable to the compressive values of human trabecular bone. It is, therefore, believed that the sol–gel-derived CBS is suitable for reinforcing the melt-derived BG and is helpful for developing low-temperature sintering BGC porous biomaterials because of their integration in appreciable biodegradation and reasonable mechanical properties.