Fernández E, Gil F J, Best S M, Ginebra M P, Driessens F C, Planell J A
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
J Biomed Mater Res. 1998 Sep 15;41(4):560-7. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4636(19980915)41:4<560::aid-jbm7>3.0.co;2-a.
The hardening properties of calcium phosphate cements in the CaHPO4-alpha-Ca3(PO4)2 (DCP-alpha-TCP) system have been investigated with interest focused on the compressive strength and microstructure development. Previous studies have shown that the addition of CaCO3(CC) leads to a modification of the calcium-deficient apatite structure of the reaction product, which results in a material more similar to the apatite in bone mineral. The addition of 10% w/w of CC to the initial DCP-alpha-TCP powder mixture resulted, with time, in a retardation of the development of compressive strength. However, the optimum compressive strength reached values up to 40% higher than CC-free samples. This retarding effect also has been monitored as a function of the calcium to phosphorus (Ca/P) ratio of the DCP and alpha-TCP mixture, showing the importance of the final cement properties of the relative quantities of the reactants in the mixture.
