Effect of grain size on mechanical, surface and biological properties of microwave sintered hydroxyapatite

Hydroxyapatite (HA) compacts having average grain sizes of 168 ± 0.086 nm, 1.48 ± 0.627 μm and 5.01 ± 1.02 μm are processed from synthesized HA powder by microwave sintering at varying sintering temperature for different times. Superior mechanical and biological properties are shown by nano-grain HA compacts as compared to their micron grained counterparts. Compressive strength, indentation hardness, and indentation fracture toughness are increased with the decrease in HA grain size. The highest surface energy and maximum wettability are exhibited by nano-grain HA. HA compacts are assessed for cell–material interaction by SEM, MTT and immunochemistry assays using human osteoblast cell line for 1, 5 and 11 days. MTT assays showed higher number of living cells and faster proliferation on nano-grain HA surface. Osteoblast cells on nano-grain HA surface expressed significantly higher amount of vinculin and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) protein markers for cell adhesion and differentiation respectively. This study shows the effect of grain size on physical, mechanical and in vitro biological properties of microwave sintered HA compacts.