Gelcast Components Having Controlled Porosity Features Obtained from a Natural Hydroxyapatite Powder

An innovative gelcasting process was developed in order to obtain macroporous hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, HAp) scaffolds having controlled porosity features. Two different HAp powders have been employed. The former is a natural carbonated hydroxyapatite nanopowder, produced by extraction from pig bones. The latter, used as a reference, is a commercially available HAp powder. On the natural HAp, a preliminary treatment was carried out in order to limit carbonates decomposition during sintering. After calcination at 700°C the powder was in fact washed in pure distilled water, thus to eliminate the highly soluble Ca(OH)2. The porous materials were produced, exploiting PE spheres, having two different size distributions, as pore former for tailoring the porosity size and volume. Moreover, the polymerization of the agar as a natural gelling agent was exploited for controlling the pore distribution.

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