Mechanical Characterization of Hydroxyapatite-Based, Organic-Inorganic Composites
Hydroxyapatite-based materials have been used for dental and biomedical applications. Newly developed synthesis techniques give cause to a broad field in the study of these materials and industry demands products with better properties day by day. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite-based (HAp-based), organic-inorganic composites. HAp-based, organic-inorganic composites were obtained by modified gel casting process and organic molecules in a gelatin solution. HAp samples of different sizes and shapes were obtained with controlled micro and macro porosity and then were immersed into several gelatin solutions with different concentrations. X-ray powder Diffraction (XRD), Infra Red (IR) Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques were used to analyze samples before and after gel casting process in order to assure that chemical and physical properties remains the same after this process. IR Spectroscopy and SEM techniques were used to characterize samples after the introduction of organic phase in order to analyze the final morphology of samples. Mechanical characterization was made in compression mode to samples without and with different concentrations of organic phase in order to establish the optimum conditions in which the highest compressive strength and Young’s modulus is reached.