Fabrication and Characterization of Porous 45S5 Glass Scaffolds via Direct Selective Laser Sintering

• Published in: Materials and manufacturing processes Vol. 28; no. 6; pp. 610 - 615
• Main Authors: Liu, Jinglin, Hu, Huanlong, Li, Pengjian, Shuai, Cijun, Peng, Shuping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester Taylor & Francis Group 01.06.2013; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: 45S5 bioglass; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Exact sciences and technology; Laser power; Materials science; Materials synthesis; materials processing; Medical sciences; Physics; Porous scaffolds; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Selective laser sintering; Sintering characterization; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments. Material. Instrumentation; Scanning electron microscopy; Vickers hardness; Selective laser sintering; Porous scaffolds; Calcium oxide; Phosphosilicate glasses; Porous materials; 45S5 bioglass; XRD; Fracture toughness; Biomedical materials; Quaternary systems; Sintering characterization; Sodium oxide; Fourier-transformed infrared spectrometry; Glass ceramics; Laser power
• ISSN: 1042-6914; 1532-2475
• DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2012.736656

A porous 45S5 bioactive glass-ceramic scaffold has been designed and fabricated via direct selective laser sintering (SLS). The scaffolds sintered over a range of laser powers from 6.0 to 30.0 W were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Their mechanical properties were tested with Vickers hardness tester. The testing results showed that the 45S5 glass in an initial amorphous state was transformed into the favorable crystallization phase Na 2 Ca 2 Si 3 O 9 by inhibiting other phase transformation due to the rapid heating and cooling of laser. The 45S5 particles began to soften and fuse together with the increased laser power during the sintering process. At a proper range of laser power (around 15.0 W), the sample became denser and had higher degree of crystallinity with superior fracture toughness. Further increasing the laser power, the 45S5 glass powders were melted, and there are the undesired holes or even sinking emerged on the surface of the sample. So, the scaffold with the superior fracture toughness and degree of crystallinity has been obtained under the laser power of 15.0 W.