Mechanical properties' improvement of a tricalcium phosphate scaffold with poly-l-lactic acid in selective laser...

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.