Effect of TiH2 on microstructure of hydroxyapatite sintered at various temperatures

Abstract

Titanium reinforced hydroxyapatite preparation was attempted by using TiH2. The hydroxyapatite (HAp) was obtained from wet chemical facile method and was mixed with TiH2 (5 to 20 wt.%). The mixtures were shaped by pressing and samples were sintered at different temperatures from 900 to 1200 °C. X-ray diffraction results showed that all the high temperature sintered samples with higher amount of TiH2 contain β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and perovskite CaTiO3 as the major crystalline phases, while minor reaction products like α-TCP and tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP) were also recorded for the various HAp-TiH2 composites. Microstructure evaluation was done by scanning electron microscopy which revealed the change in microstructure from needle-like to hexagonal grainy structure with increasing TiH2 content. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was done for functional groups analysis while density and porosity were also measured to analyse sintering ability of the composite samples.