Fabrication of translucent hydroxyapatite ceramics with different forms by Sol-Gel method

In order to fabricate translucent hydroxyapatite ceramics with different forms, using micro-sized HA powders as the raw material and chitin as adhesive, the ceramic green was prepared by Sol-Gel method. Subsequently, pure HA ceramics were obtained by normal pressure sintering. Translucent HA ceramics were then fabricated via hot isostatic pressing (HIP) sintering. The Sol-Gel method is easy to obtain shaped ceramic products. The so-produced HA ceramic spheres with a good sphericity and the HA ceramic fibers with a high aspect ratio have the density of 99.1% and the average grain size of 2.2 mu m. Compressive strength of translucent HA ceramic spheres is 10.2 MPa whith It is higher than that of conventionally-sintered dense and porous HA ceramic spheres (8.9 and 4.7 MPa, respectively). Results of biomimetic mineralization and cell culture show that translucent HA ceramics have good biocompatibility.