The mechanical property, degradation and cytocompatibility analysis of novel phosphate glass fiber textiles

Phosphate glass fibers have been widely considered as potential biomedical materials for orthopedical application due to their full degradability and excellent cytocompatibility. In this study, phosphate-based glass fibers were drawn from the glass system 48P₂O₅-12B₂O₃-14CaO-20MgO-1Na₂O-5Fe₂O₃, via a melt-drawn spinning process and then woven into textile fabric using a small lab-scale inkle-loom. The annealing treatment was applied to both fibers and textiles with 1-hour heat treatment at 540℃, which was 10℃ above the glass transition temperature. An increase in Young's modulus was observed for the single filament fibers and a decrease in tensile strength with annealing treatment. During the degradation period, the tensile strength of non-annealed fibers presented a decrease by day 28, whilst annealed fibers had increased by day 7, then decreased by day 28, which was suggested to be due to the peeling effect observed on the surface of the fibers. The cytocompatibility of the textile fabric with annealing treatment (A-textile) and the non-annealed fabric (N-textile) was characterized via seeding of MG63 cells. Higher metabolic activity and DNA concentration were obtained for the A-textile samples when compared to the N-textile, which was suggested to be due to the lower dissolution rate of the A-textile resulting in fewer ions leaching into the solution. The phosphate glass fiber textiles investigated in this study have shown potential application as bioresorbable composites reinforcement for orthopedic treatment.