The improved mechanical properties of β-CaSiO3 bioceramics with Si3N4 addition

• β-CaSiO3 ceramics with Si3N4 addition were prepared by pressureless-sintering.
• Si3N4 had great effect on the mechanical properties of the β-CaSiO3 ceramics.
• β-CaSiO3 ceramics with 3 wt% Si3N4 revealed a flexural strength of 157.2 MPa.
• Si3N4 can be used as sintering additive by being oxidized to form SiO2.

The motivation of this study is to investigate the effect of Si3N4 addition on the sinterability of β-CaSiO3 ceramics. β-CaSiO3 ceramics with different content of Si3N4 were prepared at the sintering temperature ranging from 1000 °C to 1150 °C. The results showed that Si3N4 can be successfully used as sintering additive by being oxidized to form SiO2. The β-CaSiO3 ceramics with 3 wt% Si3N4 sintered at 1100 °C revealed flexural strength, hardness and fracture toughness of 157.2 MPa, 4.4 GPa and 2.3 MPa m1/2 respectively, which was much higher than that of pure β-CaSiO3 ceramics (41.1 MPa, 1.0 GPa, 1.1 MPa m1/2). XRD analysis and SEM observation indicated that the main phase maintained to be β-phase after sintering.

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