Sintering behaviour of TiO2-doped alumina for biomedical application

Abstract

The effects of doping small amounts of TiO2 up to 5 wt% on the sintering behaviour of alumina (Al2O3) was studied. Green samples were prepared and pressureless sintered in air at temperatures ranging from 1250°C to 1600°C, at a furnace ramp rate of 10°C/min. and soaking time of 2 hours. Sintered samples were characterized to determine bulk density, hardness and Young's modulus. It has been found that all the doped samples exhibited higher bulk density than the undoped samples. The bulk density increases with increasing temperature and attained a maximum value of 3.9 Mgm-3 for samples doped with 1.0 wt% TiO2 at 1450°C. The addition of 1 wt% TiO2 when sintered at 1450°C was found to be the most beneficial throughout the studied range as the samples exhibited the highest Young's modulus of 381 GPa and Vickers hardness of 16.5 GPa as compared to 256.7 GPa and 11.2 GPa for the undoped alumina. Titanium oxide doping is one economical way of improving the densification of Al2O3 without affecting mechanical properties. © 2008 Springer-Verlag.