31P NMR characterisation of phosphate fragments during dissolution of calcium sodium phosphate glasses
Abstract
Phosphate glasses in the system P2O5–CaO–Na2O dissolve in aqueous solutions, and their solubility can be varied by changing the glass composition. This makes them of interest for use as controlled release materials, e.g. as degradable implants, devices for the release of trace elements or as fertilizers, but in order to tailor glass solubility to meet specific requirements, we need to further our understanding of their dissolution behaviour and mechanism. The structure of P2O5–CaO–Na2O glasses (P2O5 between 55 and 35 mol%; glass structure analysed by 31P MAS NMR) changed from a network (55 mol% P2O5) to short chains (35 mol%) with decreasing phosphate content. Solubility in Tris buffer showed significant differences with phosphate content and glass structure; dissolution varied between 90% (50 mol% P2O5) and 15% (35 mol%) at 24 h. Glasses with high phosphate contents significantly lowered the pH of the solution, while glasses with low phosphate contents did not. Glasses consisting of a phosphate network dissolved by a mechanism involving P–O–P bond hydrolysis, as no Q3 groups but increasing concentrations of Q0 (orthophosphate) were found in solution by solution 31P NMR. Glasses consisting of chains, by contrast, can dissolve by hydration of entire chains, but hydrolysis also occurred, resulting in formation of Q0 and small ring structures. This occurrence of hydrolysis (and thus formation of P–OH groups, which can be deprotonated) caused the pH decrease and explains the variation in solution pH with structure.