Speaker
Description
Hydroxyapatite-ZrO$_2$ composite ceramic were synthesized using a thermal precipitation techniques. The chemical precursors were prepared from di-ammonium hydrogen orthophosphate, calcium oxide (CaO) derived from chicken eggshell, zirconium dioxide (ZrO$_2$) and distilled water. The mixture were heated at the various temperatures from 100 to 700$^o$C in the furnace with an incremental temperature of 100$^o$C. The ZrO$_2$ contents in the composite ceramic were varied from 0 to 15 percent weight of CaO. The prepared composites were then annealed at 300, 600 and 700$^o$C for 4 h in air. The crystal structure, function group and morphology of all samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and universal testing machine (UTM), respectively. The results indicated that the undoped-ZrO$_2$ samples hydroxyapatite phase with a hexagonal structure. However, the hydroxyapatite was transformed to the tri-calcium phosphate after thermal treatment at 700$^o$C. For the doped-ZrO$_2$ samples, the hydroxyapatite and ZrO$_2$ phases were found. Moreover, the result showed that the compressive strength of hydroxyapatite-ZrO$_2$ composite ceramic increased with increasing the ZrO$_2$ content.
