Preparation of carbon fiber/Mg-doped nano-hydroxyapatite composites under low temperature by pressureless sintering

In order to protect carbon fibers (CF) from oxidation damage during sintering process, rod-like Mg-doped nano-hydroxyapatite (Mg-nHA) with an increased thermal decomposition temperature and reduced sintering temperature was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The synthesized bone-like Mg-nHA with similar composition and morphology to bone apatite was used as the matrix to prepare CF reinforced Mg-nHA composites (CF/Mg-nHA) at a low temperature of 700 °C by pressureless sintering. The increase of temperature slightly influenced the growth of Mg-nHA prepared by hydrothermal method from 160 °C to 200 °C. The Mg-nHA were short and rod-like in structure with a length of approximate 100 nm. When doping 1% magnesium, the decomposition temperature of Mg-nHA increased by 100 °C compared with that of nHA. This can protect CF from oxidation damage which is often encountered when sintering CF reinforced hydroxyapatite composites at high temperature and enhance reinforcing effects of CF. The bending strength of CF/Mg-nHA with 1 wt% CF was 8.51 MPa, which increased by 19.5% compared with Mg-nHA. Alternatively, the rod-like Mg-nHA was prepared on the surface of CF by electrochemical deposition and Mg-nHA coated CF was used to reinforce Mg-nHA, the coefficient of thermal expansion mismatch between CF and HA matrix could be mitigated. The compressive strength of Mg-nHA coated CF reinforced Mg-nHA (CF/Mg-nHA/Mg-nHA) composites with 0.5% CF sintered at 800 °C were 41.3 ± 1.56 MPa, which was attributed to the improved strengthening effect of CF and the good interface between CF and Mg-nHA matrix.