Effect of Hydroxyapatite Nano Rods on Sinterability and Bioactivity of Fe-14Mn-6Si Alloy Prepared By Powder Metallurgy

Abstract Recently, there is a great of industrial interest on the production of biodegradable metal/ceramic composites. The casted Fe-Mn-Si alloys prepared by casting tools have low biodegradable rate; so it is important to seek a method as powder metallurgy (PM) to prepare porous bodies with increased biodegradability. Moreover, the addition of hydroxyapatite (HA) nano rods to that alloy increases its bioactivity and forms composite with improved properties. In the present study, Fe-14Mn-6Si/HA composites were prepared by PM and sintered at different temperatures, i.e. 1100, 1150 and 1200oC. Also, the effect of HA nano-rods content on the composite properties (physical properties, microstructure and micro hardness) and bioactivity were studied. The results revealed that bulk density increased with increasing sintering temperature up to 1150oC; then decreased at 1200oC. Also, the bulk density increased with increasing the HA content. Moreover, the hardness of the sintered composites increased with increasing sintering temperature and HA amount. The maximum hardness values were 1293 & 1792 MPa for the specimens which contain 8 % HA and sintered at 1150 and 1200oC, respectively. The bioactivity of the prepared composites increased with increasing HA amount. The highest bioactivity was for the composite that contains 8 wt.% HA.