A novel in situ self foaming method for the synthesis of porous calcium metaphosphate biomaterials

Abstract

Porous calcium metaphosphate (CMP) ceramics were manufactured using an in situ self-foaming method. The porous CMP ceramics with different porosities and strengths, and the preparation process and the properties of the resulting material were studied. Under the conditions of a low molding pressure (≦2.0 MPa) or low heating rate (≦0.5 °C min⁻¹), green specimens synthesized using only Ca(H₂PO₄)₂·H₂O (MCPM) or Ca(H₂PO₄)₂ (MCPA) as raw materials can be fabricated into porous bioceramics without deformation and without pore-forming agents. In this study, MCPA specimens were molded at a pressure of 80.0 MPa and the heating rate was controlled at 0.5 °C min⁻¹. The synthetic biomaterial showed a porosity of 38.0% and a strength of 48.0 MPa.