High performance hydroxyapatite ceramics and a triply periodic minimum surface structure fabricated by digital light processing 3D printing

• Published in: Journal of advanced ceramics 2021-02, Vol.10 (1), p.39-48
• Main Authors: Yao, Yongxia, Qin, Wei, Xing, Bohang, Sha, Na, Jiao, Ting, Zhao, Zhe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3D printing; Bend strength; bioactivity; Biomedical materials; Carbon dioxide; Ceramic materials; Ceramics; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Composites; Compressive strength; Densification; digital light processing (DLP); Electronics in printing; Glass; Hydroxyapatite; hydroxyapatite (HA); Materials Science; Mechanical properties; mechanical property; Nanotechnology; Natural Materials; Porosity; Research Article; Sintering; Sintering (powder metallurgy); sintering atmosphere; Structural Materials; Substitute bone; Surface structure; Surgical implants; Three dimensional printing
• ISSN: 2226-4108; 2227-8508
• DOI: 10.1007/s40145-020-0415-4

High performance hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics with excellent densification and mechanical properties were successfully fabricated by digital light processing (DLP) three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. It was found that the sintering atmosphere of wet CO 2 can dramatically improve the densification process and thus lead to better mechanical properties. HA ceramics with a relative density of 97.12% and a three-point bending strength of 92.4 MPa can be achieved at a sintering temperature of 1300 , which makes a solid foundation for application ℃ in bone engineering. Furthermore, a relatively high compressive strength of 4.09 MPa can be also achieved for a DLP-printed p-cell triply periodic minimum surface (TPMS) structure with a porosity of 74%, which meets the requirement of cancellous bone substitutes. A further cell proliferation test demonstrated that the sintering atmosphere of wet CO 2 led to improve cell vitality after 7 days of cell culture Moreover, with the possible benefit from the bio-inspired structure, the 3D-printed TPMS structure significantly improved the cell vitality, which is crucial for early osteogenesis and osteointegration.