Fabrication of Transparent β-Ca_3(PO_4)_2 Bioceramics by Spark Plasma Sintering Technique using Ultrafine Powders

Ultrafine powders of β-tricalcium (β-Ca3(PO4)2, β-TCP) powders (about 100nm in average size) were obtained by the precipitation method. Transparent β-TCP bioceramics were fabricated by using these ultrafine powders and spark plasma sintering technique at 875 ℃ for 2min under 40MPa and at the heating rate of 150 ℃/min. No phases other than β-TCP were detected in the sintered samples. The relative density of the prepared β-TCP was over 99.7%. The results of the FESEM show that the transparent bodies have an average grain size of 250nm and seem to be pore-free. The MTT method shows that the proliferation of bone mesenchymal stem cells on transparent β-TCP bioceramics is much better than that on the polystyrene cell culture cluster.