Influence of processing parameters on structural characteristics of porous calcium phosphate samples: a study using an experimental design method

• Main Authors: José Fernandes de Oliveira Ugarte, Lidia Ágata de Sena, Carlos André de Castro Pérez, Paula Fernandes de Aguiar, Alexandre Malta Rossi, Glória Almeida Soares
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol) 2005-03-01
• Series: Materials Research
• Subjects: scaffolds; calcium phosphate; biomedical applications
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392005000100013

Synthetic porous ceramics can be used as three-dimensional scaffolds for bone repair. The aim of this work is to correlate process parameters with scaffolds structural characteristics. The factorial 2 level experimental design was chosen to study the effect of the Ca/P ratio (1.58 or 1.67), calcination temperature (1000 or 1150 °C) and porogen content (20 or 40%) on the calcium phosphate samples characteristics. The influence of such parameters was determined by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and image analysis. It was observed that phase composition was basically a function of the Ca/P ratio of the raw material. The use of the porogen did not alter the hydroxyapatite (HA)/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) content, but induced changes in the relative content of TCP phase (alpha or beta). It is possible to design a porous sample with defined characteristics, and the model herein used can be considered as having a good predictive power.