Improvement of mechanical properties of macroporous β-tricalcium phosphate bioceramic scaffolds with uniform and interconnected pore structures

The biocompatible and degradable macroporous bioceramic scaffolds with high mechanical properties and interconnected porous structures play an important role in hard tissue regeneration and bone tissue engineering applications. In this study, the improvement of mechanical properties of macroporous beta-tricalcium phosphate [beta-Ca-3(PO4)(2), beta-TCP] bioceramic scaffolds with uniform macropore size and interconnected pores were fabricated by impregnation of the synthesized beta-TCP nano-powder slurry into polymeric frames. The microstructures, mechanical properties and in vitro degradation of the fabricated samples were investigated. For a comparison, beta-TCP scaffolds were also fabricated from commercial micro-size powders under the same conditions. The resultant scaffolds showed porosities similar to 65% with uniform macropore size ranging from 400 to 550 mu m and interconnected pore size similar to 100 mu m. The compressive strength of the samples fabricated from nano-size powders reached 10.87 MPa, which was almost twice as high as those fabricated from commercial micro-size powders, and was comparable to the high-end value (2-10 MPa) of human cancellous bone. Furthermore, the degradation of the beta-TCP bioceramics fabricated from nano-size powders was apparently lower than those fabricated from commercial micro-size powders, suggesting the possible control of the degradation of the scaffolds by regulating initial powder size. Regarding the excellent mechanical properties and porous structures, the obtained macroporous beta-TCP bioceramic scaffolds can be used in hard tissue regeneration and bone tissue engineering applications. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.