Thermal decomposition and mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite ceramic

Pure hydroxyapatite（HAP）ceramic and HAP composite ceramic with B2O3 were prepared by isostatic press forming and pressureless sintering.The relationships between thermal decomposition ratio and mechanical properties for pure HAP ceramic and the composite ceramic were investigated by means of FTIR,X-ray diffraction and three-point bending method.The results indicate that the decomposition ratio of pure HAP ceramic increases with ascending the sintering temperature and nearly reaches 80%at 1 350？殆or the HAP composite ceramic,the thermal decomposition is inhibited obviously due to the addition of B2O3.The added B atoms incorporate into the crystal lattice of HAP to form solid solution,resulting in an enlargement in the crystal spacing and an improvement in the binding strength of HAP crystal cell.Thermal decomposition ratio of HAP decreases but bending strength and fracture toughness are enhanced for HAP composite ceramics.However,when the added B2O3 is more than 5%（mass fraction）,HAP decomposition is promoted and a steady？-TCP is formed due to the fact that when B atoms with higher negative electricity are combined with O,sp2 and a full-air p are formed,and those voids have a strong trend to intake of the outer electrons.So,it is very possible to occupy the place where HAP loses OH - or PO4 3- .

Strength and fatigue properties of three-step sintered dense nanocrystal hydroxyapatite bioceramics

Dense hydroxyapatite （HA） ceramic is a promising material for hard tissue repair due to its unique physical properties and biologic properties. However, the brittleness and low compressive strength of traditional HA ceramics limited their applications, because previous sintering methods produced HA ceramics with crystal sizes greater than nanometer range. In this study, nano-sized HA powder was employed to fabricate dense nanocrystal HA ceramic by high pressure molding, and followed by a three-step sintering process. The phase composition, microstructure, crystal dimension and crystal shape of the sintered ceramic were examined by X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. Mechanical properties of the HA ceramic were tested, and cytocompatibility was evaluated. The phase of the sintered ceramic was pure HA, and the crystal size was about 200 nm. The compressive strength and elastic modulus of the HA ceramic were comparable to human cortical bone, especially the good fatigue strength overcame brittleness of traditional sintered HA ceramics. Cell attachment experiment also demonstrated that the ceramics had a good cytocompatibility.

A Green Biocompatible Fabrication of Highly Porous Functional Ceramics with High Strength and Controllable Pore Structures

A green biocompatible foaming method utilizing natural coconut oil and cornstarch was developed to fabricate highly porous functional ceramics with controllable strengths and pore structures. The poros- ity of A1203 ceramics prepared via this method reached 79.6%-86.9% while these ceramics maintained high compressive strengths of 2.2-5.5 MPa. More importantly, porous A1203 ceramic with a pore size gra- dient was also readily fabricated by casting serial layers of foams that were set for different time periods. The potential applications of porous Al2O3 and HA ceramics fabricated by this green foaming method in- cluding scaffolds for oil cleaning and cell culture, respectively, were also demonstrated.