Powder Characterization of Calcium Phosphate/Collagen for Bone Implant Application

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Material and Design Department, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM)

^a Corresponding author: meemek90@gmail.com
^b Corresponding author: adzila@uthm.edu.my

Abstract

Calcium phosphate (CaP) is a type of bioceramic material that is biocompatible and bioactive. It is usually used for bone implant application but it lacks mechanical strength. Therefore, sodium alginate (SA), a natural polymer, is combined with CaP to improve its properties of the CaP via precipitation method. The powder formed is then characterized by using FESEM, EDX, FTIR and DTA. Based on the FESEM result, it was confirmed that the SA particles were well embedded and homogeneously dispersed throughout the CaP matrix whereas the EDX result showed that the CaP and SA are pure and were not contaminated with other materials or substances.The FTIR result showed that the intensity of some peaks (3100-3600 cm-1 and 1585-1625cm-1) increased due to the addition of SA but for some peaks the addition of SA leads to a decrease in intensity (1650-1300cm-1 and 1190-976cm-1).This proves that the addition of SA in CaP influenced the intensity peaks and it was confirmed that chemical bonds were formed between these two substances. Meanwhile, the DTA result showed that CaP dehydroxylation occurred in the range of 650-13000C and the thermal degradation of SA happened at 245.80C but the SA thermal degradation temperature improved when it was added to the CaP matrix.