Influence of precursor characteristics on properties of porous calcium phosphate-titanium dioxide composite bioceramics

Highly porous (macroporosity 76–90%) bioceramics containing interconnected pores (>100 μm) with compressive strength between 0.54 and 0.32 MPa were prepared by polyurethane foam replica method. Effect of following variables, i.e., calcium phosphate/anatase ratio (30/70, 50/50, 70/30 wt%) in the ceramic slurry, anatase particle size (15 nm, 180 nm), Ca/P molar ratio of calcium phosphate (1.67 and 1.50 for hydroxyapatite and apatitic-tricalcium phosphate (ap-TCP), respectively), on the bioceramics properties was investigated. Bioceramics prepared using anatase and hydroxyapatite consisted of three high-temperature crystalline phases - β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP), rutile and CaTiO₃. In case of anatase and ap-TCP, two phases (β-TCP and rutile) were obtained. Interaction of anatase and hydroxyapatite during sintering caused formation of CaTiO₃ at β-TCP and rutile grain boundaries thus contributing to a denser grain packing. Combination of ap-TCP and nanosized anatase facilitated decrease of grain sizes. Correlation was found between compressive strength and calcium phosphate precursor in the ceramic slurry.