Effect of Sodium Alginate on the properties of calcium phosphate for bone implant application

Abstract

Calcium (CaP) is a bioceramic material which is limited in mechanical strength. Due to the limitation, Sodium Alginate (SA) was reinforced in CaP matrix composite with a different ratio of CaP/SA weight percentage (100/0, 99/1, 97/3, 95/5, 90/10 and 80/20). The composite was prepared by using the precipitation method and the compacted powder was sintered at 1000°C. The sintered samples are characterized through x-ray diffraction (XRD). The physical and mechanical properties were determined by density, shrinkage and hardness test. Microstructure and grain size of the samples were examined under scanning electron microscope (SEM). Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) was detected in XRD analysis after sintered at 1000°C. The grain size and shrinkage of the CP were increased with SA as well as hardness and density. SA reinforcement has improved the density and hardness of CaP with by 2.90g/cm3 and 4.71GPa respectively. The grain size and the crystallite size also increased with SA. Due to the improved properties, CaP/SA composites can be proposed to be one of the biomaterials for a bone implant application.