Characterization of biomedical hydroxyapatite/magnesium composites prepared by powder metallurgy assisted with microwave sintering

• Hydroxyapatite reinforced Mg composites were prepared by microwave sintering method.
• The HAp/Mg composites microwave sintered for 10 min exhibit high relative density.
• The HAp/Mg composites exhibit enhanced mechanical and biological properties over Mg.
• The degradation rate of the HAp/Mg composites can be controlled by HAp content.

Microwave assisted sintering has attracted much attention due to the greatly reduced sintering time. In this work, for the first time, hydroxyapatite (HAp)-reinforced magnesium (Mg) composites were prepared by the microwave assisted sintering technique. The as-prepared HAp/Mg composites were characterized by mechanical and electrochemical tests, XRD analysis, and preliminary biological evaluation. Optical microscopy observation confirms the homogeneously distributed HAp particles in the Mg matrix. It is shown that the relative density of HAp/Mg composite with 10 wt% HAp can reach 96.5% after only 10 min microwave assisted sintering. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of HAp/Mg composites are significantly higher than those of pure Mg. The corrosion resistance of HAp/Mg composites evaluated by immersion and electrochemical measurements in simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37 °C reveals significant improvement over pure Mg. It is demonstrated that the mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and biological behavior can be properly controlled by adjusting HAp content.

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