Microstructure, Physical Properties, and Mechanical Behavior of Porous Hydroxyapatite Prepared by Various Advanced Casting Techniques
摘要
The current study used two casting techniques, freeze-gel casting and direct coagulation, to prepare near-net-shaped porous hydroxyapatite (HA) samples. Three solid loads of nano HA powder and three firing temperatures (1000 °C, 1100 °C, and 1200 °C) were the main parameters explored in the fabrication of the samples. The fabricated HA samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, density, porosity, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and compressive strength tests. This comparative study showed that samples prepared using direct coagulation casting show the formation of porous biphasic calcium phosphate (tricalcium phosphate + HA) with a porosity ranging from 51.9 to 65.96% and mechanical strength of 22.5–30 MPa. However, the sample prepared by freeze-gel casting showed the formation of only HA. The porosity of HA porous samples obtained by freeze-gel method (33.36–62.3%) was lower than the ones prepared using the direct coagulation technique, but their compressive strengths were the highest (23.8–50.2 MPa).