Effect of curing conditions on the dimensional and thermal stability of calcium phosphate cement for elevated temperature applications

Calcium phosphate cements (CPCs) are attractive materials for elevated temperature applications, like moulds to process thermoplastics up to 300 °C. The CPC resulting from the reaction of wollastonite with phosphoric acid cured at room temperature however contains hydrated phases like brushite, and is thus not stable when exposed to temperatures above 200 °C. A non-contact method based on digital image correlation demonstrated that isothermal curing at 60 °C reduces the thermal shrinkage up to 300 °C by 25%. This curing method results in the direct formation of the more stable monetite in a shorter curing time. The correlated results of TGA, pH of the filtration water, and DSC analysis on partially cured material indicate this. XRD diffractograms and SEM images in combination with EDX show the evolution of the transformation of wollastonite into monetite, and the structure and morphology of the formed material.