Characterization of calcium phosphate coating and zinc incorporation on the porous alumina scaffolds

Bone ingrowth requires materials with the existence of open and interconnected pores with diameters larger than 150 µm for proper circulation of nutrients. Such materials must possess enough mechanical strength to avoid failure whilst offering a bioactive surface for bone regeneration. We have developed porous ceramic alumina scaffold with compressive strength that achieves 3.3 MPa by replication method by using the network structure of cellular polymer foam. However, the biocompatibility of ceramics based on Al2O3 requires further improvement so that it could have strong bonding to natural bone tissue. To address this problem of the interface between alumina and bone, we have developed a novel calcium phosphate with Zn2+ (CaP-Zn) coating onto porous alumina ceramic scaffold by impregnating with calcium phosphate/poly(vinyl alcohol) slurry. The tri-dimensional alumina scaffold coated with CaP-Zn was extensively characterized by SEM, EDS and FTIR