Effect of Synthesis Route and Strontium Doping on the Mechanical Properties of 13-93 Bioactive Glass Ceramic

The mechanical performance of bioactive glass-ceramics is strongly influenced by both the synthesis method and compositional modifications. This study investigates the effects of synthesis route and Strontuim (Sr) doping on the mechanical properties of 13-93 bioactive glass-ceramics prepared by solution combustion (SC) and sol-gel (SG) techniques.The synthesized  glass-ceramic were characterized using X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy. Hardness, fracture toughness and brittleness index were evaluated to determine the influence of processing and Sr incorporation on the mechanical  properties of the bioceramics. The SG-derived 13-93 glass-ceramic exhibited the highest hardness (0.77 0.02) and fracture toughness (2.96), demonstrating the beneficial effect of Sol-gel process in producing a refined microstructure with enhanced mechanical performance. In contrast, the SC samples showed lower hardness (0.48 0.01) and fracture toughness (2.01). Sr doping improved the hardness of SC samples from 0.48 to 0.64 and increased fracture toughness from 2.01 to 2.48. Sr effectively reinforced the SC-derived material. However, Sr addition to the SG samples reduced hardness from 0.77 to 0.47 and fracture toughness from 2.96 to 1.89, suggesting that excessive Sr incorporation or associated microstructural changes adversely affected mechanical integrity. The brittleness index remained relatively constant across all compositions (0.24-0.26), indicating that processing route and  Sr addition had only a marginal influence on the hardness-to-toughness relationship. Overall, the results demonstrate that the synthesis route plays a dominant role in determining the mechanical properties of 13-93 bioactive glass-ceramics, while the effect of Sr doping is strongly dependent on the synthesis method, offering valuable guidance for optimizing bioactive glass-ceramics for load-bearing biomedical applications.