Preparation of Titanium/Strontia Composite by Powder Metallurgy for Biomedical Application

Abstract

In this study, a Titanium (Ti) / Strontia (SrO) composite was prepared using powder metallurgy, with the aim of obtaining advanced Ti-based composites for use as bone implant materials. Ti/SrO composites with 3 wt% SrO were fabricated using spark plasma sintering (SPS) and vacuum sintering (VS) processes. The particle morphology of ball-milled powders and the microstructure of the Ti/SrO composites were analyzed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-spectroscope (EDX). The mechanical properties of the Ti/SrO composite were investigated using nanoindentation and hardness tests. The results showed that the Vickers hardness and nanohardness of the Ti/SrO composites fabricated by both processes were significantly higher than those of pure Ti. The Vickers hardness and nanohardness of Ti/SrO composites fabricated by the SPS process were higher than those prepared using the vacuum sintering process. The elastic modulus of Ti/SrO composites fabricated by the SPS process was higher than those samples fabricated by the vacuum sintering process which was similar to that of pure Ti.