Preparation of porous scaffold from hydroxyapatite powders

Hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was prepared by wet chemical method. The hydroxyapatite phase was stable up to 1250 degrees C without decomposition to beta-tricalcium phosphate. Interconnected porous hydroxyapatite scaffold resembling trabecular bone structure was developed from polymeric replica sponge method. The prepared scaffold has 60 vol.% porosity having a major fraction of similar to 50-125 mu m pore diameter. The pore content, pore morphology, pore interconnectivity of scaffold and their compressive strength were dependent on the solid loading and binder content. In-vitro bioactivity and bioresorbability confirmed the feasibility of the developed scaffolds. (C) 2010 Elsevier Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.