Metallic glasses show promise for bone grafting

Glass isn’t an obvious choice for growing bones, but research has found that under the right conditions, bulk metallic glasses have the right mechanical and thermophysical properties to be used in bone grafting.

Shankar and Bhatt studied the properties of three bulk metallic glasses (Mg₂Ca, Al₂Ca and Al₄Ca) in the hope of finding a material that could serve as a bone graft substrate for dental procedures like tooth extraction, injuries, and implants.

Today, the most common dental grafting materials are xenografts, hydroxyapatite, and grade-V titanium, all of which have drawbacks or limitations to their use. The authors selected the glasses with the aim of finding a material that had no toxicity, could promote bone regeneration, was corrosion resistant, and could match the material properties of human bone.

Using a classical molecular dynamics simulator, the researchers assessed the phase transition, mechanical, and transport properties of the three glasses. The results showed that the chosen materials exhibit three distinct phases at different temperatures (liquid, supercooled liquid, and glass) and ductile mechanical properties that make them suitable for bone grafting. Notably, the glasses have thermal conductivities and thermal diffusivities similar to other biocomposites for bone grafting, as well as densities that match human bones.

“The materials under study could potentially be used as commercial grafting materials after they are developed and thoroughly analyzed,” said author Anjali Shankar.

To further simulate the potential of these glasses for bone grafting, more complex simulations are needed. Using supercomputing power, the researchers intend to study the glasses’ hydrodynamic properties at the atomic level to investigate the glasses’ relaxation mechanisms.

Source: “Enhanced mechanical and thermophysical properties of Mg₂Ca, Al₂Ca and Al₄Ca bulk metallic glasses in comparison to crystalline alloys for bone grafting applications: A molecular dynamics investigation,” by A. Shankar and N. K. Bhatt, Journal of Applied Physics (2024). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0213686 .

This paper is part of the Phase-change Materials and Their Applications Collection, learn more here .