Preparation and Characterization of Zirconium Oxide-Doped Hydroxyapatite

Abstract

Various bioceramic materials including zirconia and hydroxyapatite have been developed for various applications. Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, HAp) is one of the most interesting features of calcium phosphate-based bioceramic that widely used in various applications especially for bio-application, bone engineering, and dentistry. However, the applications of pristine HAp have limited due to low load bearing applications. The wet chemical precipitation techniques was used to synthesize the solids based on zirconia. Hydroxyapatite and zirconia powder (0-30 weight %) were mixed homogeneously. Structure and morphological were characterized by SEM JEOL-JSM-T330A. The presence of functional group was observed by FTIR. Hardness value of material was measured by using Vickers hardness test measurement. Through this techniques, pure hydroxyapatite precipitate was obtained. Sintering temperature is an important factor that could influence the hardness of zirconia-doped hydroxyapatite. Based on the SEM observation, zirconia-doped hydroxyapatite were developed in blended morphology. FTIR results shows the interaction between hydroxyapatite and zirconia. Increasing zirconia increased the hardness value of zirconia-doped hydroxyapatite. Eventually, these ceramic-based materials could be developed for dental materials applications.