Effect of strontium substitution on structural, sinterability, physicomechanical and biological properties of akermanite ceramic.

Abstract

Despite the excellent in vitro and in vivo performance of akermanite ceramic, its poor toughness and strength limit the biomedical application, particularly under load. Herein, the incorporation of strontium enhanced the physicomechanical properties of akermanite and this is ascribed to the decrease in grain size and better sinterability. To investigate the biological performance, the bone-cell interaction with sintered pellets was assessed by in vitro biocompatibility with human fetal osteoblast cell (hFOB). The cell viability using MTT assay revealed that the Ca_1.9Sr_0.1MgSi₂O₇ pellets with finer grain size provided better interaction between the cells compared to the unsubstituted counterpart with larger grain size. Our findings highlighted that the synergistic effect of controlled degradation rate and release of Sr²⁺ into the medium enhanced the in vitro biological properties of akermanite-based materials.