Preparation and mechanical properties of reinforced hydroxyapatite bone cement with nano-ZrO2

In the research described, a new method was investigated to prepare hydroxyapatite (HAp) bone cement using nano-hydroxyapatite, CaO and (NH4)2HPO4 as initial raw materials, and reinforcement effects of HAp bone cement with ZrO2 nanotubes and ZrO2 nanoparticles were studied in detail. The morphologies, crystal structure and mechanical properties etc. were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and electro-mechanical universal testing machine. Results indicated that after solidification the composition of bone cement was hydroxyapatite with good crystallinity and purity. Addition of ZrO2 nanoparticles or ZrO2 nanotubes to the bone cement could substantially improve its strength, the optimum addition amount being 20 wt%, however, the enhancement effects between ZrO2 nanoparticles and ZrO2 nanotubes were slightly different.