Vital role of hydroxyapatite particle shape in regulating the porosity and mechanical properties of the sintered scaffolds

The effect of particle shape on the porosity and compressive strength of porous hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds was investigated by sintering the mixture of rod-shaped HA (r-HA) and spherical HA (s-HA) with polyacrylamide used as the sacrificial template. It was found, for the first time, that addition of r-HA into s-HA could exponentially decrease the porosity of sintered HA scaffolds and enhance their compressive strength with the increase of r-HA content. The mechanism, according to the results from scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction, lies in the restriction of s-HA to the grain formation and growth of r-HA during sintering and results in the fusion of r-HA with s-HA. These findings suggest that mixture of r-HA and s-HA might provide a new and facile way to improve the compressive strength of porous HA scaffolds.