From window panes to bone regeneration: structure, viscosity and bioactivity of soda lime silicate glasses

Silicate glasses are not only used for everyday items such as windows or drinking glasses. By altering their composition, one can adjust their properties to allow them to become degradable and help to regenerate bone. Here, we investigate how compositional changes from conventional soda lime silicate glasses to low-silica content compositions affect their structure and properties. Results show that silicate network polymerisation, known as network connectivity, controls many properties, including viscosity, which is relevant for processing, and reactivity in aqueous environments. Correlating our data with in vivo results from the literature, we show how changes in silicate network connectivity as represented by their modifier content and non-bridging oxygen concentration, allow us to turn bioinert soda lime silicate glasses into bioactive materials to enhance bone formation.