Development and characterization of porous hydroxyapatite-Alumina composite for engineering application

Abstract

Synthetic hydroxyapatite is a material that has a chemical composition and molecular structure similar to bones and teeth, generally this material is widely used for medical applications including as an implant material. Non-medical applications of porous HA include as catalyst in chemical reaction, packing media for column chromatography, and as probe for gas sensors. The study aims to develop porous material based HA/Al2O3 composites. HA/Al2O3 composites prepared with three variations of latex space holder weight fractions namely 10%, 20%, and 30% and using the unidirectional compaction method to produce composites. Two step holding process sintering process applied on the green body specimens. Firstly, hold for 60 minutes at temperature of 600°C and secondly 3 hours at final temperature of 1200°C with 5°C/min heating rate. The apparent density test was performed based on the Archimedes' principle. Porosity characteristics of the sample show that density of the composite decreased with increased space holder. Compressive strength results show that the addition of SH weight fraction decreased the compressive strength of porous hydroxyapatite-Al2O3 composites. The morphology observation via SEM showed pore formation due to burning of space holder and interconnecting porous formed.