Tantalum foam made with sucrose as a space holder

•Ta foams (with different porosities: 50–70%) were made using the space holder technique.•As a space holder we used quasi-spherical sucrose crystals with an average size of about 600 μm.•Porosity strongly affects the scaffolds' mechanical properties.

The paper shows a promising method of tantalum foam biomaterial preparation with sucrose crystals as a space holder material, which is dissolved further in the process, as well as a high frequency induction heating sintering of the remaining Ta scaffold. Sucrose crystals of quasi-spherical shape have been used. The influence of the amount of space holder on the Ta scaffold porosity, phase composition and mechanical properties has been investigated. Because different Ta/sucrose ratios were applied, the Ta foams have been made with porosities of approx. 50, 60 and 70%. The space holder material has a strong influence on the phase composition of the foam surface. The research shows tantalum carbide formation during sintering. The increase of porosity leads to a deterioration of the mechanical properties. The metallic scaffold of the porosity of 50% shows the compressive strength and Young's modulus similar to that of a cancellous bone. The results show a great potential of sucrose applications in tantalum foam formation and their potential applications in medicine.