Tg, Density and X-ray Diffraction of Zinc-doped Bioactive Glasses with Molar Formulation: 20.15[(2.038+x)SiO2-(1.457-x)Na2O]-2.6P2O5-26.905CaO-0.045ZnO System

In the present work, glasses with molar composition 20.15[(2.038+x)SiO2-(1.457-x)Na2O]-2.6P2O5-26.905CaO-0.045ZnO were studied in order to contribute to the application of thermal analysis methods to the characterization of zinc-doped bioactive glasses. The aim is to provide answers to the expectations of practitioners before in vitro or in vivo tests on the physicochemical properties of these zinc doped bioactive glasses. Samples were produced by high temperature melting followed by quenching. The samples were characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and pycnometry. The results show that the samples are amorphous, and the values for vitreous transition temperature and density are of the same order of magnitude as those for the system without addition of ZnO. Consequently, it appears that the addition of 0.045 % mol of ZnO to the base glass does not significantly alter the physicochemical and structural properties of the glass.