Hindrances and solutions on the path towards adjoined barium titanate–hydroxyapatite ceramics with uncompromised piezoelectric and biological responses

Abstract

The synergistic piezoelectric and osteoconductive properties of barium titanate (BT) and hydroxyapatite (HA) could stir the development of a new generation of synthetic bone graft substitutes, with capability for rapid and safe osseointegration. The research focused on two concurrent approaches for coupling the BT and HA materials: (i) conventional sintering of BT-HA powder mixtures; and (ii) functionalization of pre-sintered BT with HA coatings using magnetron sputtering (MS). Irrespective of the BT/HA ratios ranging from 95/5 to 80/20 wt%, nanocrystalline or highly-crystallized nature of the powders, sub-micron- or micron-sized particle dimensions, and sintering temperature, it was observed that the BT-HA reactivity cannot be prevented above 800 °C. At higher temperatures in the range of 1000–1300 °C, HA undergoes decomposition and extensively reacts with BT, leading to the formation of several secondary phases such as CaTiO3, Ba2Ca(PO4)2, BaCa6(PO4)4O, BaCa(PO3)4, and β-Ca2P2O7. As a consequence, the cytocompatibility assessed in fibroblast and osteoblast cell cultures, as well as the piezoelectric response, were significantly altered.Applying HA coatings by MS to the sintered BT ceramics successfully preserved their piezoelectric properties, while also providing an unaltered cytocompatible and osteogenic-prone surface. The HA coatings were fully crystallized at post-deposition annealing temperatures of 550 and 700 °C, achieving crystalline qualities comparable to HA powders sintered at 1100 and 1200 °C, respectively. No reactivity events between BT and HA were observed. Partial reactivity was only noticeable upon annealing at 1000 °C. Therefore, it is suggested that the HA coating of BT is effective in seamlessly coupling the piezoelectric and osteogenic properties of the two constituents without compromise.