Influence of Zn and Mg doping on the sintering behavior and phase transformation of tricalcium phosphate based ceramics

Abstract

β-tricalcium phosphate based ceramics (β-TCP) are resorbable biomaterials used as bone substitutive materials. Several ions can substitute specific Ca positions in the crystalline structure of TCP, so that general Me-TCP can be obtained. Particularly, magnesium can increase the temperature of β-α-TCP transformation while zinc stimulates the bone formation. In this work, the influence of magnesium or zinc ions on the sintering behavior of Me-TCP was investigated. The powders were produced through wet chemical synthesis with a freeze drying process. The powders were calcined and subsequently uniaxially pressed into pellets. The pellets were sintered up to 1300°C/1h. The influence of Mg or Zn doping was investigated by dilatometric studies, thermal analysis and XRD. The microstructure was evaluated through SEM. The results suggest that Mg increased temperature of β-α-TCP phase transformation. The Me-doped TCP samples can be considered as promising biomaterials, having stimulatory effect of Zn or suitable densification due to Mg addition.