Abstract:
The porous alumina-hydroxyapatite (HA) composite bodies with good interconnectivity were
successfully prepared via protein foaming-consolidation method. The egg yolk was used as a pore creating
agent. Alumina and HA powders were mixed with yolk, starch and darvan 821 A at an adjusted mass ratio to
make slurry. The slurries were cast into cylindrical shaped molds and then dried for foaming and
consolidation process. Subsequently, the dried bodies were burned at 600°C for 1 h, followed by sintering at
temperatures of 1,550°C for 2 h. The porous alumina-HA composites with pore size in the range of 50-500
μm with good interconnectivity were obtained. The densities and porosity were in the range of 2.15 – 2.48 g
cm-3 and 36.7 – 45.8%, respectively. The increasing HA-to-alumina mass ratio in slurries from 0.4 to 0.6
w/w increased compressive strength of sintered bodies from 2.9 to 24.2 MPa. XRD pattern result shows
presence of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) phase in the sintered bodies
