Production of Hydroxyapatite/Polyhydroxibutirate Based Composites for Biomaterials Applications

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HA) is a ceramic material broadly studied due to its great similarity with the human bone. However, this material presents high stiffness and young modulus in comparison with the bone tissue. The polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is a themoplatic and biodegradable polymer that presents bone like young modulus and gradative degradation that results in a permanence of the mechanical properties after implantation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the infiltration of melted PHB on the mechanical properties of porose HA bodies. The composite samples were characterized by SEM, EDS and compressive strength. The samples produced with 10% paraffin and sintered at 1200 °C showed the best mechanical properties and reached an increase of the compressive strength from 29,00 ± 4,70 MPa before infiltration to 83,00 MPa ± 4,41 after infiltration with PHB for a final porosity of 5%.