The structure, degradation and fibre drawing properties of phosphate based glasses fibre: The effects of Fe₂O₃ and B₂O₃ addition

The previous research has reported the phosphate based glass has potential medical application due to excellent cytocompatibility and controllable degradability. In this study, Six novel phosphate based glass formulations were produced as two glass system 48P₂O₅–12B₂O₃-(25-X)MgO–14CaO–1Na₂O–(X)Fe₂O₃ (X = 6, 8, 10) and 45P₂O₅–(Y)B₂O₃–(32-Y) MgO–14CaO–1Na₂O–8Fe₂O₃ (Y = 12, 15, 20) for glass fibre drawing study, whilst five of them were converted to be fibre successfully. The PBG with 20 mol. % B₂O₃ was difficult to form fibre with stable meniscus due to high viscosity. The mechanical properties of the fibres were found to increase with increasing B₂O₃ or Fe₂O₃ content in the glass. The highest tensile strength (1253 ± 92 MPa) was recorded for 48P₂O₅–12B₂O₃–15MgO–14CaO–1Na₂O–10Fe₂O₃ glass fibres. The assessment of change in mechanical properties of glass fibres was performed in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) at 37°C for 28 days. The mass loss and dissolution rate of glass fibre was reduced with an increase of Fe₂O₃ content from 6 to 10 mol. % whilst an increase of dissolution rate was observed with increasing B₂O₃ content. During the degradation period, a huge decrease on tensile strength was observed, and 20 ~ 40 % tensile strength was residual by 28-day. Whereas, no significant change (P > 0.05) in the tensile modulus was revealed.