An investigation into the structure and reactivity of calcium-zinc-silicate ionomer glasses using MAS-NMR spectroscopy

The suitability of Glass Polyalkenoate Cements (GPCs) for orthopaedic applications is retarded by the presence in the glass phase of aluminium, a neurotoxin. Unfortunately, the aluminium ion plays an integral role in the setting process of GPCs and its absence is likely to hinder cement formation. However, the authors have previously shown that aluminium-free GPCs may be formulated based on calcium zinc silicate glasses and these novel materials exhibit significant potential as hard tissue biomaterials. However there is no data available on the structure of these glasses. Si-29 MAS-NMR, differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and network crosslink density (CLD) calculations were used to characterize the Structure of five calcium zinc silicate glasses and relate glass structure to reactivity. The results indicate that glasses capable of forming Zn-GPCs are predominantly Q(2)/Q(3) in structure with corresponding network crosslink densities greater than 2. The correlation of CLD and MAS-NMR results indicate the primary role of zinc in these simple glass networks is as a network modifier and not an intermediate oxide; this fact will allow for more refined glass compositions, with less reactive structures, to be formulated in the future.