Titanium-based composite scaffolds reinforced with hydroxyapatite-zirconia: Production, mechanical and in-vitro characterization

In this study, titanium (Ti)-based composite scaffolds reinforced with hydroxyapatite-zirconia (HA-ZrO2) were successfully produced with powder metallurgy and atmosphere-controlled sintering processes. The scaffolds structures were theoretically selected as 40% and 60% porosity, and fabricated with approximately 1.47 and 4.02 std dev values, respectively. The porosity of the scaffolds was verified by Archimedes' measurements. The scaffolds were characterized by DTA, SEM/EDS, XRD analyses. The mechanical behaviors of the scaffolds were evaluated by compression and hardness tests. Besides, the electrochemical corrosion behaviors of the structures were compared with potentiodynamic scanning (PDS) measurements in simulated body fluids (SBF) at 37 ± 1 °C. It has been observed that all scaffolds have a bimodal porous structure as they contain varying proportions of micropores as well as macropores in desired dimensions. Biocompatible phases such as TixPy, Ca3(PO4)2 and CaTiO3, respectively, were found in the microstructure after sintering. In compression tests, 40% porous Ti had the highest strength with 37.98 MPa, interestingly, the lowest strength was seen in Ti/HA-ZrO2 scaffold with 60% porosity with 3.80 MPa. Young's modulus values of all scaffolds vary between 1.67 - 7.20 GPa, due to the bimodal pore structure and composition effect. However, in-vitro corrosion resistance of scaffolds decreased with HA reinforcement, while increased with ZrO2 additive to HA. [Display omitted] •New Ti-based scaffolds functionalized with HA-ZrO2 have been successfully produced.•Compression tests have been carried out according to the ISO 13314 standard.•Young’s modulus of composite scaffolds has been changed between 1.67 – 7.20 GPa.•Corrosion resistances of scaffolds has been increased with additive of ZrO2 to HA.