Zirconia Enriched BaO-SiO₂-TiO₂ Glasses with Enhanced Physical, Mechanical and Biological Performances

Zirconia doped glasses are ideal for biomedical applications owing to their improved mechanical strength, non-toxicity and biocompatibility. Herein, ZrO₂ doped BaO-SiO₂- TiO₂ (BST) based glasses within the system (30–x)BaO.40SiO₂.30TiO₂.xZrO₂ (0≤x;≤6) were fabricated using a melt-quenching technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements confirmed the non-crystalline nature of the glass samples. Density of the glasses increased from 3.538 to 3.802 g/cm³. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to examine the structural or bonding mechanism. Further, mechanical performance of the glass pellets was studied using a universal testing machine (UTM) in compression mode, showing that the compressive strength increased with higher ZrO₂ content, from 20.4 to 222 MPa of the glasses. Cell viability using 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2- yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays on the human osteoblastic cell line (MG-63) revealed no cytotoxic effects on osteoblast cells, and maintaining cell viability even at higher concentrations. Additionally, cell cytotoxicity was evaluated using trypan blue assay and DAPI (4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) staining on glass samples. Therefore, the present study uniquely demonstrates that systematic ZrO₂ incorporation into BaO-SiO₂-TiO₂ glass matrices markedly enhances both mechanical strength and biological activity, establishing a new class of bioactive glass compositions with simultaneous structural and biomedical advantages for bone regeneration applications.