Synthesis and Properties of Porous Ti-20 wt.% HA Nanocomposites.

In the present study, porous titanium-20 wt.% hydroxyapatite nanocomposites were produced by the combination of mechanical alloying and powder metallurgical process with the addition of titanium hydride particles as the blowing agent. The powder mixture of Ti, HA and spacer particles were milled, pressed and heat-treated to decompose the hydride particles and to sinter into highly porous Ti-HA materials. The resulting microstructures were characterized using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive spectrometry. The porosity, compressive strength and corrosion resistance of the porous nanocomposites were investigated. The results show that the compressive strength of porous Ti-HA can be tailored between 210 and 497 MPa by changing the content of blowing agent between 25 and 75%. The increase in the weight ratio of titanium hydride (from 25 to 75%) causes almost a twofold increase in the porosity and decreases the corrosion resistance (by almost two orders of magnitude). The present study has demonstrated that the porous Ti-HA nanocomposites are promising scaffold biomaterials for bone tissue engineering by virtue of their appropriate mechanical and corrosion properties and highly porous structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]