Sintering effects on mechanical properties of bioglass reinforced hydroxyapatite composites

Abstract

The improvement of mechanical properties of HA with reinforcement of 5 and 10 wt % bioglass (45S5) with different sintering temperatures was studied.. Although HA shows good biocompatibility with human body, its applications are limited to nonload-bearing areas due to its low mechanical properties. In this study naturally produced HA from human teeth is sintered with varying addition of 5 wt % and 10 wt % bioglass at 1200 and 1300degreesC for 4 hours. The density, microhardness measurements and compressive tests are performed and microstructural characterizations are carried out in order to find the optimum sintering temperature. Finally average hardness value of 383+/-60 HV (kg/mm(2)), average density of 2.72+/-0.01g/cm(3), and compressive strength value of sigma(avr)=82.96+/-34 MPa were achieved by sintering at 1200degreesC with the addition of 10 wt % bioglass in HA.