Si-TCP synthesized from "mg-free" reagents employed as calcium phosphate cement

Abstract

The influence of silicon doping on calcium phosphate cement were explored in this work. α-TCP and Si-α-TCP were prepared by solid state reaction employing "Mg-free" CaHPO 4, CaCO 3 and CaSiO 3 as precursors. It was possible to obtain TCP powders with low contents of β phase as contaminant. Cement liquid phase was an aqueous solution containing 2.5 wt. (%) of Na 2HPO 4 and 1.5 wt. (%) of citric acid. The liquid-to-powder ratio was 0.6 mL.g -1. Chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the cement samples were determined by means of XRD, FTIR, XRF, compressive strength and SEM. The calcium phosphate cements obtained achieved satisfactory properties; however, Si-α-TCP presented a decrease on the rate of setting reaction.