Calcium phosphate cements based on alpha-tricalcium phosphate obtained by wet method: Synthesis and milling effects

Abstract Calcium phosphate cements present many advantages for their use as bone substitute, among which biocompatibility and bioactivity. However, these cements generally have low mechanical strength compared to the bones of human body. This work aims to develop a method to produce calcium phosphate cements based on alpha-tricalcium phosphate and to evaluate the influence of milling time (0–16 h) on their particle size and mechanical properties. The obtained powder was characterized by particle size analysis and X-ray diffraction. The proposed method allowed to obtain highly pure alpha-tricalcium phosphate. The milling resulted in different average particle size, showing a decrease of around 83% with 16 h of milling. Specimens were prepared and evaluated by apparent density, microstructure by scanning electron microscopy and compressive strength. The variation of the average particle size influenced the compressive strength whose best result was obtained for the sample without additional milling.