Onur Meydanoglu

Sintering Effect on Mechanical Properties of Composites of Hydroxyapatite Lanthanum Oxide (HA-La2O3)

Composites of calcinated bovine bone derived hydroxyapatite (HA) with 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2 wt % La2O3 were prepared by sintering. The experimental results indicated that compression strength and microhardness of HA-La2O3 composites increase when the content of La2O3 and sintering temperature increase. The best mechanical properties were achieved after sintering at 1300°C. The results are in agreement with densification measurements and microstructure analysis.

Nano-Bioceramics Production from Razor Shell

The regeneration potential of human bone is limited in the cases of repairing large bone defects, such as those associated with comminuted fractures or bone tumor resection. In most cases, autogenous and allogenic bones are used as bone grafts. However, the amount of both of them is severely limited. Nowadays, natural biomaterials are in question, like corals, cuttlefish, and various nacre species, or hydroxyapatite (HA) made from egg shells. The present work aims at preparing inexpensive nano-sized HA and whitlockite particles from various raw materials of natural-biological origin. Razor shells (ensis ensis) were collected from beaches of Thessaloniki in Greece. Each sample was reduced to particle size <100 µm and DTA/TG was employed to determine their exact CaCO3 content. The suspended raw powders were put on a hotplate. The temperature was set to 80°C for 15 min. Then, equivalent amount of H3PO4 was added, drop by drop, into the solution. Different Ca/P ratios were tried. The reaction was ultrasonically assisted and continued for 8h. Then, to evaporate the liquid part, the mixture was put into an incubator at 100°C for 24 h and the resulting dried sediment was collected. The morphology of the produced powders was examined by SEM and revealed nano-sized particles. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated various Ca-phosphate phases, i.e. monetite and calcium phosphate hydrate. Thus, razor shells could be an alternative source for calcium phosphate ceramics production. In this study, long nacre shells were converted to various bioceramic structures with simple ultrasonic method without using hydrothermal method, which is carried out in a close vessel heated in a furnace and could cause accident if the vessel is worn. Chemical ultrasonic method is very safe and reliable method for bioceramic production from aragonite structures.

Sea Snail: An Alternative Source for Nano-Bioceramic Production

The production of nano-calcium phosphate, such as HA (hydroxyapatite), materials from synthetic chemicals could sometimes lead to a costly and tedious work. Sea creatures could be an alternative way to produce very fine and even nano-structured calcium phosphate materials. Nacres vastly consist of rich calcium carbonate and/or aragonite mater. With simple conversion methods, like hotplate stirring, various bioceramic structures could be produced suitable for thin film coatings with various methods, like pulsed laser deposition (MAPLE). This study is part of a bigger project which eventually and ultimately aims to produce nano-phases of calcium phosphate biocompatible bioceramics, which can be used for biomedical coatings. In this particular study, we focus at transforming chemically, using hotplate stirring method, local sea snail shells rapana thomasiana. Cleaned sea snail samples were provided from local markets in Istanbul. The shells were smashed down, ball-milled and the powder was sieved (<100 µm powder particles). Differential thermal analysis (DTA/TG) was employed to evaluate the exact CaCO3 content of the shells. According to these results, the required volume of H3PO4 was added in order to set the molar ratio of Ca/P (during hotplate stirring) either 10/6 or 3/2 (these ratios correspond to HA and TCP, respectively). SEM and X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted. The SEM observations showed brick-like particles were formed with sizes <5 µm. From the X-ray diffraction analysis, predominantly monetite, which can be considered as a precursor of HA and TCP, was detected. The results of this study showed that to produce HA and other bioceramic phases, hot-plate stirring method is a reliable, fast, rapid and economic method when compared to other tedious HA production methods. Moreover, sea snail shells are very good candidate materials to produce fine powders with hotplate stirring method for various tissue engineering applications.

High Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Thermally Oxidized Ti6Al4V Alloy

In this study, the effect of thermal oxidation on the high cycle rotating bending fatigue behavior of Ti6Al4V alloy was investigated. Oxidation, which was performed at 600°C for 60 h in air, considerably improved the surface hardness and particularly the yield strength of the alloy without scarifying the tensile ductility. Unfortunately, the rotating bending fatigue strength at 5x106 cycles decreased from about 610 MPa to about 400 MPa upon oxidation. Thus, thermal oxidation leaded a reduction in the fatigue strength of around 34%, while improving the surface hardness (HV0.1) and yield strength 85 % and 36 %, respectively.

Sintering Effects on Mechanical Properties of Hydroxyapatite-Titanium Dioxide (HA-TiO2) Composites

Composites of bovine bone derived HA with 5 wt% and 10 wt% of TiO2 were sintered at different temperatures. Their characterization comprised measurements of density, microhardness, and compression strength together with SEM observations and X-ray diffraction analysis. Better densification behaviour was achieved at higher sintering temperatures. The highest microhardness value was measured in the samples sintered at 1300°C. The best compressive strengths of the samples containing 5% and 10% TiO2 were obtained after sintering at 1300°C and 1200°C, respectively.

Comparison of Mechanical Properties of Sheep Hydroxyapatite (SHA) and Commercial Synthetic Hydroxyapatite (CSHA)-MgO Composites

In this study, microstructures and mechanical properties of sheep hydroxyapatite (SHA) and commercial synthetic hydroxyapatite (CSHA)-MgO composites were investigated. The production of hydroxyapatite (HA) from natural sources is preferred due to economical and time saving reasons. The goal of development of SHA and CSHA based MgO composites is to improve mechanical properties of HA. SHA and CSHA composites were prepared with the addition of different amounts of MgO and sintered at the temperature range of 1000-1300 °C. The physical and mechanical properties were determined by measuring density, compression strength and Vickers microhardness (HV). Structural characterization was carried out with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies. In all composites, mean density values and mechanical properties increased with increasing sintering temperature. The increase of MgO content in SHA-MgO composites showed better mechanical properties in contrast to CSHA-MgO composites. Although the highest hardness and compression strength values were obtained at the SHA-10wt% MgO composite sintered at 1300°C, higher hardness and compression strength values were achieved with 5 wt% MgO addition at the CSHA-MgO composites when compared to SHA-MgO composites sintered between 1000-1200°C.

Bovine Hydroxyapatite (BHA) Strontium Oxide Composites

Composites of calcinated bovine bone derived hydroxyapatite (HA) with 5 and 10 wt % SrCO3 were prepared by sintering. The production of HA from natural sources is preferred due to money and time saving reasons. In this study scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations and together with measurements of microhardness, density, and compression strength were performed. The experimental results indicated that compression strength and microhardness values of HA-Sr-oxide composites decrease when the content of SrCO3 and sintering temperature increase. The best compression strength values were achieved after sintering at 1000°C. It was seen that at higher temperatures the compression strength and the microhardness values decrease due to the pore formation. The pore formation is very important for scaffold formation for tissue engineering purposes.

Bovine Hydroxyapatite (BHA) Boron Oxide Composites

Composites of calcinated bovine bone derived hydroxyapatite (HA) with 5, 7.5 and 10 wt % B2O3 were prepared by sintering. The production of HA from natural sources is preferred due to economical and time saving reasons. In this study scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations, microhardness and compression strength measurements were performed on composites. The experimental results indicated that compression strength and microhardness of HA-boron-oxide composites decrease when the content of boric acid and sintering temperature increase. The best mechanical properties achieved for 5 wt % addition of dehydrated boric acid. It was seen that at higher sintering temperatures, the compression strength and the microhardness decrease due to the very intensive pore formation. The results agree fairly well with microstructure analysis.

Air Oxidation Behaviour of a Ti-6Al-7Nb Alloy

Air oxidation behavior of a Ti6Al7Nb alloy was examined over the temperature range of 873 –1173 K for different time intervals ranging in between 12 and 72 h. The rate of oxidation evaluated according to the weight gain measurements, fitted parabolic kinetics by yielding oxidation activation energy of 226 kJ/mol. Rutile and anatase modifications of TiO2 formed on the surface as the result of air oxidation. Oxidation temperatures higher than 923 K encouraged rutile formation rather than anatase. As temperature of oxidation was increased, the thickness of the oxide layer increased. Thicker oxide layer provided higher surface hardness and better protection against a corrosive media (5 M HCl solution) was provided.