title: Mechanical properties' improvement of a tricalcium phosphate scaffold with poly-l-lactic acid in selective laser sintering.
abstract: To improve the mechanical properties of a scaffold fabricated via selective laser sintering (SLS), a small amount (0.5-3 wt%) of poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) is added to the β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) powder. The fracture toughness of the scaffold prepared with the mixture powder containing 1 wt% PLLA increases by 18.18% and the compressive strength increases by 4.45% compared to the scaffold prepared from the β-TCP powder. The strengthening and toughening is related to the enhancement of β-TCP sintering characteristics via introducing a transient liquid phase in SLS. Moreover, the microcracks caused by the volume expansion due to the β-α phase transformation of TCP are reduced because of the PLLA inhibition function on the phase transformation. However, PLLA additive above 1 wt% would lead to a PLLA residue which will decrease the mechanical properties. The experimental results show that PLLA is an effective sintering aid to improve the mechanical properties of a TCP scaffold.
authors: State Key Laboratory of High Performance Complex Manufacturing, Central South University, Changsha 410083, People's Republic of China.
authors: Defu
authors: D
authors: Liu
authors: Jingyu
authors: J
authors: Zhuang
authors: Cijun
authors: C
authors: Shuai
authors: Shuping
authors: S
authors: Peng
mesh_terms: D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000737:chemistry; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D007834:Lasers; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D018786:Bone Substitutes; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D011091:Polyesters; D011108:Polymers; C485817:beta-tricalcium phosphate; D019344:Lactic Acid; C033616:poly(lactide)