Effect of Temperature on Biomechanical Properties of Carbonated Hydroxyapatite Bioceramics for Bone and Tissue Engineering Applications

Nowadays bioceramics are finding increasing applications in bone and tissue engineering due to their ability to stimulate remineralisation. Carbonated hydroxyapatite bioceramics was prepared using a one-step chemical wet co-precipitation method and sintered at 750, 800 and 850 °C respectively. Large part of the reacting starting materials of biogenic CaCO3 powder was sourced from eggshell and then phosphatised at 80 °C for 6 Hrs. Temperatures effect on the microstructure and biomechanical features were examined with materials characterization tools: X-ray diffractometer (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Energy Disperse X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Induction Couple Plasma Optical Electronic Spectroscopy. In addition, the tensile strength, hardness and in vitro bioactivity will be analysed using Diametral Tensile Strength (DTS), Vickers hardness (Hv) and SBF media. ASTM C830 protocol was used to evaluate bulk density, water absorption, relative density and apparent porosity. The result showed enhanced mechanical properties (DTS: 1.59±0.18 - 6.52±0.28 MPa, Hv: 0.25±0.02 - 0.81±0.17 GPa) similar to the human cancellous bone and favourable bioactivity due to retention of acceptable carbonate content of 3.64 wt. % post-sintering.