Effect of strontium inclusion on the bioactivity of phosphate-based glasses

We have conducted first-principles and classical molecular dynamics simulations of various compositions of strontium-containing phosphate glasses, to understand how strontium incorporation will change the glasses’ activity when implanted into the body (bioactivity). To perform the classical simulations, we have developed a new interatomic potential, which takes account of the polarizability of the oxygen ions. The Sr–O bond length is ∼2.44–2.49 Å, and the coordination number is 7.5–7.8. The Qn distribution and network connectivity were roughly constant for these compositions. Sr bonds to a similar number of phosphate chains as Ca does; based on our previous work (Christie et al. in J Phys Chem B 117:10652, 2013), this implies that SrO ↔ CaO substitution will barely change the dissolution rate of these glasses and that the bioactivity will remain essentially constant. Strontium could therefore be incorporated into phosphate glass for biomedical applications.