A comparative study of the mechanical properties of sol-gel derived hydroxyapatite produced from a novel mixture of two natural biowastes for biomedical applications

In this work, hydroxyapatite (HAp) was produced in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner from bovine and catfish bones. Carbonization and calcination were used to deproteinize the bones before converting the bones into HAp via the conventional thermal treatment process in a muffle furnace. The sol-gel synthesis process was used to ensure homogeneity of the powder mixtures after the thermal treatment. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and mechanical measurements were used to characterize the powders in terms of their phase composition, purity, crystallinity, mechanical properties, and wear rates. Also, the specific surface area and the volume of samples were calculated. Sample B25/C75 (HAp from bovine and catfish bones, respectively- 25/75%) had the highest hardness value of 0.54 GPa, while B50/C50 and B75/C25 had equal hardness values of 0.47 GPa. From the data obtained, the micro-hardness for all the samples is within the range reported for hard tissue engineering. The sample B50/C50, on the other hand, had the highest compressive strength of 1.75 MPa. The sample B50/C50 was observed to have a lower wear rate under dynamic loading, while B100 had the highest wear rate.