Effect of Alumina Amount on the Bioactivity of Dense Magnesium Fluorapatite/Alumina Composite in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) using Taguchi Method

Abstract

Bioactivity of magnesium fluorapatite is basically affected by the amount of dissolved β-TCP in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF). It was the purpose of the current work to prepare and characterize magnesium fluorapatite with different amounts of alumina, and to investigate the effect of alumina amount on magnesium fluorapatite (MFA) bioactivity and mechanical properties. Magnesium fluorapatite/alumina composite bulk samples with different amounts of alumina were synthesized via mechanochemical activation (by high-energy ball milling process) followed by two-step sintering processes using Taguchi method and analysis of variance (ANOVA). While, variable parameters include: initial temperature (T1), second temperature (T2) and dwell time (t2). In vitro bioactivity evaluation was performed by soaking the prepared samples in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) for predicted period of times. In order to characterize the samples, identify the formed bone like-apatite, and determine the concentration amount of released ions in the SBF, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, inductively-coupled plasma, and spectrometry techniques were utilized. The results indicated that the MFA/alumina composites with various amounts of alumina showed more bioactivity in SBF due to higher dissolution of β-TCP.