Dense Manganese Doped Biphasic Calcium Phosphate for Load Bearing Bone Implants

Dense pure biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) and Mn-doped BCP ceramics were fabricated via uniaxial pressing using the sol-gel derived powders. The compacted discs were sintered in air atmosphere with temperatures ranging from 1000 degrees C to 1400 degrees C. All powders have been proved to show HA and beta-TCP phases only. Manganese doping improves the densification in the BCP structure as the relative density increased with Mn doping and also sintering temperature. Considerable grain growth has been observed at 1300 degrees C for Mn-doped BCP samples compared to the pure BCP. 15 mol% Mn showed the maximum hardness value of 6.66 GPa at 1400 degrees C compared to pure BCP of only 2.89 GPa. Similarly, the Mn-doped BCP has superior fracture toughness where it attained maximum values of 1.05 MPam(1/2) at 1400 degrees C compared to 0.72 MPam(1/2) at 1300 degrees C of pure BCP. In a nutshell, Mn doping has successfully brought improvement in the mechanical properties of the BCP.