抄録
Carbonate apatite (CO3Ap) foam may be an ideal bone substitute as it is sidelined to cancellous bone with respect to its chemical composition and structure. However, CO3Ap foam fabricated using α-tricalcium phosphate foam showed limited mechanical strength. In the present study, feasibility of the fabrication of calcite which could be a precursor of CO3Ap was studied. Calcite foam was successfully fabricated by the so-called “ceramic foam” method using calcium hydroxide coated polyurethane foam under CO2+O2 atmosphere. Then the calcite foam was immersed in Na2HPO4 aqueous solution for phase transformation based on dissolution-precipitation reaction. When CaO-free calcite foam was immersed in Na2HPO4 solution, low-crystalline CO3Ap foam with 93–96% porosity and fully interconnected porous structure was fabricated. The compressive strength of the foam was 25.6±6 kPa. In light of these results, we concluded that the properties of the precursor foam were key factors for the fabrication of CO3Ap foams.