Materials Science Forum, Vol.498-499, 173-178, 2005
Titanium powder processing with binder addition for biomedical applications
Porous structures are applied as coatings in order to improve surgical implants bone fixation by allowing the mechanical interlocking of the pores and bone. Sintered titanium porous coatings have been used for surgical implants because they have a strong attachment of the coating to the substrate. This works reports the processing and characterization of titanium porous coatings and foam samples, for surgical implants applications. Pure titanium powders mixed with urea as a binder was used for the porous coatings and foam samples. A rod shape of Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy P/M sample was used as substrate. Coatings surfaces were analyzed via scanning electron microscopy and the porosity characterization was made by quantitative metallografic analysis. It was found that coating porosity can be controlled by adjusting the binder percent addition and powder sizes. Sintered samples exhibited a microstructure with micropores and inteconnected macropores which is suitable to be used in surgical implants.