Trans Tech Publications, Advanced Materials Research, (910), p. 23-26, 2014
DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.910.23
Full text: Unavailable
A new technique to prepare macroporous hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds was introduced. Porous HA ceramics were prepared by sol-gel method from chitin dissolved in dimethylacetylamide (DMAc) / lithium chloride (LiCl) solvent, three dimensional stacking with HA gel fibers and pore agent. The blocks dried were heated to optimum sintering temperature of 1280°C. The porous HA ceramics reinforced by homogeneous fibers, with interconnected pores and high porosity and pore-diameter were obtained, whilst improving mechanical strength. Sintered ceramics were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRD analysis confirmed that the crystal structure remained HA. SEM showed the samples presented a highly interconnected porous reticulate structure with average pore size ranging from 340μm to 450μm. The porosity was varied from 61% to 83%. The maximum compressive strength of HA ceramic was 3.4MPa.The mechanical strength of samples was improved with addition of homogeneous fibers.