Production of porous biomaterials based on glass-reinforced hydroxyapatite composites

In this study, porous GR-HA composites were produced using a calcium-phosphate glass with the composition, in mol%, 75P(2)O(5)-15CaO-10CaF(2). The composites were obtained by wet mixing 4.0% (w/w) of the glasses with hydroxyapatite.(HA) powder (batch P120) (Plasma Biotal; Tideswell, U.K.), pressing and sintering. Two different organic additives were used as pore formers: potato starch and almond crust. This processing route was effective in producing a homogeneous microstructure of equiaxed grains. The bulk density of the samples decreased with the volume fraction increase in the content of pore formers. Scanning electron microscopy and mercury porosimetry analyses showed to be complementary techniques in characterising the pore size and distribution.