Synthesis and Characterization of Calcium Phosphate-Alumina Composites

Abstract

In the present study synthetic α-alumina and calcium phosphate based composites were processed and their mechanical properties were characterized. α-Alumina nano-powder was synthesized using reverse micelle method. Calcium phosphate nano-powders with different molar ratio starting from 1.8 to 1.1 was synthesized by precipitation method, using calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2.4H2O) and ammonium dihydrogen orthophosphate (NH4H2PO4) as precursor materials as source for calcium (Ca²+) and phosphate ((PO4)3-) ions respectively. Then 5, 10, 20 weight % of Calcium phosphate powder was mixed with alumina, consolidated and sintered at 1400°C for 4 hours. The synthesized composites, in form of pellets were characterized for bulk density, apparent porosity, hardness and flexural strength and its grain size and morphology were studied from SEM micrographs of sintered pellets.
The synthesized composites were found to have a bulk density in the range 3.092 – 3.76 g/cc, apparent porosity in the range 11-20% and hardness in the range 193.3 - 335 HV.