Abstract
Diopside, CaMgSi206, is known as an advantageous bioactive material. Particularly, the diopside produced by alkoxide method is crystallized in lower temperature range. Since the rate of hydrolysis of the alkoxides differs considerably from one species to another, the system is heterogeneous. Using not only alkoxide but also inorganic salts as starting materials is, therefore, effective to improve the problems. The present study deals with preparation of diopside by liquid-phase reaction techniques using alkoxide and inorganic salts and the effect of the thermal properties of diopside on the crystallization process and the biological activity of its sintered bodies. Powder X-ray diffraction revealed that the dry powders were X-ray amorphous and crystallized into diopside at lower temperature than that by alkoxide method. The results of thermal measurements suggest that the vaporization of inorganic gases before crystallization promotes the nucleation of diopside. Moreover, the apatite layers were found to form on the diopside surfaces and grow with increasing immersion period in simulated body fluid (SBF).
