The Designing of Properties of Hydroxyapatite/Poly-l-lactide Composite Biomaterials by Hot Pressing

Effects of the hot pressing parameters on the designing of structures and properties of hydroxyapatite/poly-L-lactide biocomposite blocks have been studied. Interdependences of temperature, pressure and time of hot pressing and the density, compressive strength, elasticity modulus, and fracture type of biocomposite blocks were defined. The microstructures of the fracture surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy, while the compositions of the constituent phases after hot pressing were determined qualitatively by FT-infrared spectroscopy. A wide spectrum of block properties such as relative density of 86.2–99.6 %, compressive strength of 38–139 MPa and elasticity modulus of 2–10 GPa was obtained by varying the hot pressing parameters.