• Stan, George
• Kalkandelen, Cevriye
• Ekren, Nazmi
• Geçimli, Zeynep Nur
• Kömür, Baran
• Lohse, Tim
• Aydogdu, Mehmet Onur
• Ficai, Anton
• Can, Hilal
• Sengil, Ahmed Zeki
• Kuruca, Serap Erdem
• Gunduz, Oguzhan
• Oktar, Faik N.
• Khalilova, Gulnar
• Salman, F. Sibel
• Süleymanoglu, Mediha

Abstract

We evaluated the Bovine hydroxyapatite (BHA) structure. BHA powder was admixed with 5 and 10 wt% natural pumice (NP). Compression strength, Vickers micro hardness, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction studies were performed on the final NP-BHA composite products. The cells proliferation was investigated by MTT assay and SEM. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of NP-BHA samples was interrogated. Variances in the sintering temperature (for 5 wt% NP composites) between 1000 and 1300 °C, reveal about 700 % increase in the microhardness (~100 and 775 HV, respectively). Composites prepared at 1300 °C demonstrate the greatest compression strength with comparable result for 5 wt% NP content (87 MPa), which are significantly better than those for 10 wt% and those that do not include any NP (below 60 MPa, respectively). The results suggested the optimal parameters for the preparation of NP-BHA composites with increased mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Changes in micro-hardness and compression strength can be tailored by the tuning the NP concentration and sintering temperature. NP-BHA composites have demonstrated a remarkable potential for biomedical engineering applications such as bone graft and implant.

Topics

• scanning electron microscopy
• x-ray diffraction
• strength
• composite
• hardness
• Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
• sintering
• biocompatibility