In vitro degradability and apatite-formation ability of monticellite (CaMgSiO4) bioceramic

In this study, monticellite (CaMgSiO4) ceramic was successfully synthesized by a sol–gel method. The degradation test was evaluated through the weight loss of the CaMgSiO4 ceramic during immersion in Tris–HCl buffer solution. In vitro apatite-formation ability of the CaMgSiO4 ceramic was investigated by soaking in the simulated body fluid (SBF), and the deposited hydroxyapatite (HAp) after soaking was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). The results showed that the CaMgSiO4 ceramic had a low degradation rate. Furthermore, CaMgSiO4 ceramic showed good apatite-formation ability, HAp layer constituted by needle-like crystallites was investigated on CaMgSiO4 ceramic surface after soaking in SBF solution.