CHAPTER 2: Structure and Thermal Properties of Phosphate Glasses

For several decades, phosphate glasses have been studied as biomaterials, particularly because of their solubility in water, which predestines them for use as controlled release materials. The present chapter looks at the atomic structure and the basic building units of these glasses. Both phosphate network polymerisation and the type of modifier present determine the properties of phosphate glass. Increasing modifier contents disrupt the phosphate structure, making it change from a network to entangled chains of decreasing length. By varying the type of modifier cation present, we can adjust glass properties even when we keep the network polymerisation constant. An understanding of how composition, structure and properties are connected helps us to interpret experimental findings or design new glass compositions with specific properties.