Microwave sintering of nano size powder β-TCP bioceramics

Abstract

A nano sized beta tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) powder was conventional sintered (CS) and microwave sintered (MW), in order to obtain dense β-TCP ceramics. In this work the effect of microwave sintering conditions on the microstructure, phase composition and mechanical properties of materials based on tricalcium phosphate (TCP) was investigated by SEM (scanning electron microscopy)and XRD(X- ray diffraction) and then compared with conventional sintered samples. Nano-size β-TCP powders with average grain size of 80 nm were prepared by the wet chemical precipitation method with calcium nitrate and diammonium hydrogen phosphate as calcium and phosphorus precursors, respectively. The precipitation process employed was also found to be suitable for the production of submicrometre β-TCP powder in situ. The β-TCP samples microwave (MW) sintered for 15 min at 1100°C, with average grain size of 3μm, showed better densification, higher density and certainly higher hardness than samples conventionally sintered for 2 h at the same temperature. By comparing sintered and MW sintered β-TCP samples, it was concluded that MW sintered β-TCP samples have superior mechanical properties.