Chemical durability of three ceramic systems in different pH values

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to evaluate the stability of three different ceramic systems after their immersion in solutions with different pH values regarding the surface texture and ionic release. A total of 45 ceramic disc specimens were prepared. They were divided into 3 groups, 15 each according to the type of the tested ceramic material. These groups were further subdivided into 3 subgroups, 5 each depending on the proposed test media. Evaluation of the surface texture was carried out quantitatively by analyzing the surface roughness of the ceramic specimens before and after immersion in different test solutions using the Image analysis software. For qualitative analysis, scanning electron microscope was done to study the effect of immersion in different conditioning media with different pH values on the surface morphology of the three tested ceramic materials. The determination of elements leached from the ceramic materials [aluminum, silicon, lithium, sodium and potassium] was done with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy