Effects of gelatin addition on the microstructure of freeze-cast porous hydroxyapatite ceramics

Porous hydroxyapatite (HAP) ceramics was prepared by freeze casting and gelatin was used to adjust the pore morphology and microstructure of the porous HAP ceramics. With the gelatin concentration increase, the viscosity of HAP slurry was increased, and the linear shrinkage ratio of the specimen sintered at 1300 °C was also increased. The gelatin addition had great effects on the pore size and pore morphology of the porous HAP ceramics. The experimental results showed that the pore morphology of HAP ceramics was changed from a two-dimensional flat pore to a three-dimensional reticulated pore after gelatin addition.