Abstract

• Beta-tricalcium phosphate material (β-TCP) has excellent biocompatibility for medical science applications as bone substitutes. In this research,β-tricalcium phosphate powders, β-TCP, were prepared by the wet chemical precipitation method with calcium nitratetetrahydrate, Ca(NO3)2.4H2O, and diammonium hydrogen phosphate, (NH4)2HPO4. The pH of the system was controlled by adding sodium hydroxide solution. The dry precipitate was calcined at 700°C and the pellets were sintered at 800°C, 900°C, 1000°C and 1100°C for 6h each. The phase formations of these samples were characterized by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. The crystallite sizes and lattice parameters were estimated from the XRD data. The rhombohedral structure of β-TCP phase has been stable after sintering upto 1100°C.The crystallite size is in nano-range and increased with increasing temperatures. The morphological feature of theβ-TCP samples were studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Importantly, the dense microstructure without pores could be obtained at sintering temperature of 1100°C.Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was applied to study the molecular vibrations of functional groups in β-TCP. The presence of β-TCP with the same vibrational modes in all samples has been proved consistently.