Synthesis of β-tricalcium phosphate in layered or powdered forms for biomedical applications

The objective of this work is to obtain β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) both in powdered form and as coatings onto polycrystalline alumina. The Liquid Mix Technique was utilized to prepare solutions with Ca/P ratio of 1.5 which were employed either to obtain powder or to dip-coat Al2O3 substrates 1, 5 or 10 times. All the coatings yielded a porous morphology that increased with their thickness. Two calcium phosphate polymorphs β-TCP (stable up to 1100 °C) and α-TCP (obtained after a thermal treatment at 1450 °C) can be prepared in the powdered form. The prepared materials were characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDAX and Elemental Analysis. The topography of the layers was studied by SFM. The rheological properties of the precursor solutions were determined by viscosimetry. The bioactivity of these materials was tested by immersion in a simulated body fluid (SBF).