Sintering of calcium phosphate bioceramics

Calcium phosphate ceramics have become of prime importance for biological applications in the field of bone tissue engineering. This paper reviews the sintering behaviour of these bioceramics. Conventional pressureless sintering of hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, a reference compound, has been extensively studied. Its physico-chemistry is detailed. It can be seen as a competition between two thermally activated phenomena that proceed by solid-state diffusion of matter: densification and grain growth. Usually, the objective is to promote the first and prevent the second. Literature data are analysed from sintering maps (i.e. grain growth vs. densification). Sintering trajectories of hydroxyapatite produced by conventional pressureless sintering and non-conventional techniques, including two-step sintering, liquid phase sintering, hot pressing, hot isostatic pressing, ultrahigh pressure, microwave and spark plasma sintering, are presented. Whatever the sintering technique may be, grain growth occurs mainly during the last step of sintering, when the relative bulk density reaches 95% of the maximum value. Though often considered very advantageous, most assisted sintering techniques do not appear very superior to conventional pressureless sintering. Sintering of tricalcium phosphate or biphasic calcium phosphates is also discussed. The chemical composition of calcium phosphate influences the behaviour. Similarly, ionic substitutions in hydroxyapatite or in tricalcium phosphate create lattice defects that modify the sintering rate. Depending on their nature, they can either accelerate or slow down the sintering rate. The thermal stability of compounds at the sintering temperature must also be taken into account. Controlled atmospheres may be required to prevent thermal decomposition, and flash sintering techniques, which allow consolidation at low temperature, can be helpful.