Evaluation of Surface Macrostructure and Mechanical Properties of Porous Surface Ti-HA Biomaterial Fabricated by a Leaching Process

• Published in: Journal of the Korean Institute of Metals and Materials Vol. 48; no. 4; pp. 369 - 375
• Main Authors: Woo, Kee Do, Kang, Duck Soo, Moon, Min Seok, Kim, Sang Hyuk, Liu, Zhiguang, Omran, Abdel-Nasser
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Korean
• Published: 01.04.2010
• ISSN: 1738-8228
• DOI: 10.3365/KJMM.2010.48.04.369

Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy, which is commonly used as a biomaterial, is associated with a high elastic modulus and poor biocompatibility. This alloy presents a variety of problems on several areas. Therefore, the development of good non-toxic biocompatible biomaterials with a low elastic modulus is necessary. Particularly, hydroxyapatite (HA) is an attractive material for human tissue implantation. This material is widely used as artificial bone due to its good biocompatibility and similar composition to human bone. Many scientists have studied the fabrication of HA as a biomaterial. However, applications of bulk HA. compact are hindered by the low strength of HA when it is sintered. Therefore, HA has been coated on Ti or Ti alloy to facilitate good bonding between tissue and the HA surface. However, there are many problems when doing this, such as the low bonding strength between HA and Ti due to the different thermal expansion coefficients and mechanical properties. In this study, a Ti-HA composite with a porous surface was successfully fabricated by pulse current activated sintering (PCAS) and a subsequent leaching process.