Mechanical properties and bioactivity of β-Ca2SiO4 ceramics synthesized by spark plasma sintering

Bioactive beta-dicalcium silicate ceramics (beta-Ca2SiO4) were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The relative density of as-prepared beta Ca2SiO4 ceramics reached 98.1% when sintered at 1150 degrees C, leading to great improvement in bending strength (293 MPa), almost 10 times higher than that of the specimen prepared by conventional pressureless sintering (PLS). High fracture toughness (3.0 MPa m(1/2)) and Vickers hardness (5.8 GPa) of beta-Ca2SiO4 ceramics were also achieved by SPS at 1150 degrees C. The simulated body fluid (SBF) results showed that beta-Ca2SiO4 ceramics had a good in vitro bioactivity to induce hydraxyapatite (HAp) formation on their surface, which suggests that (beta-Ca2SiO4 ceramics are promising candidates for load-bearing bone implant materials. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.