Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Part A
5 years ago

Optimization of Spark Plasma Sintered Titania for Potential Application as a Keratoprosthesis Skirt

Brianna C. Thompson, Gwendoline Tze Wei Goh, Gary Hin-Fai Yam, Zhong Li, Jodhbir S. Mehta, Melina Setiawan, Khiam Aik Khor, Donald Tan
The manufacture of mechanically strong and biocompatible titania (TiO2) materials is of vital importance for their application as corneal implant skirts. This study was aimed at optimizing the selection of raw powder and sintering conditions for TiO2 ceramics. TiO2 compacts were synthesized from five raw powders, denoted as Altair, Inframat, Alfa, Materion and Amperit, respectively, by spark plasma sintering using different sintering parameters. The XRD and Raman results confirmed that the anatase TiO2 phase in the Inframat powder had converted completely to rutile TiO2 phase after sintering at 900°C and above. The nanoindentation results indicated that among the five types of TiO2 samples sintered at 1100°C, the Inframat pellets possessed the highest Young's modulus and hardness. Additionally, when Materion samples were employed to study the effects of SPS parameters, a higher sintering temperature in the range of 1100–1300°C decreased the mechanical properties of sintered pellets probably due to the generation of more structural defects. Culture of human corneal stromal fibroblasts on the sintered sample surfaces showed that comparably high cell viability and proliferation were observed on all TiO2 samples except Amperit compared to positive control. Furthermore, cells cultured on Inframat TiO2 sintered in the temperature range of 900–1300°C exhibited viability and formation of focal adhesion complex similar to those on control, and those prepared at 1100°C had significantly higher cell proliferation indices than control. In conclusion, Inframat TiO2 consolidated at 1100°C by SPS was the best formulation for the preparation of mechanically strong and biocompatible Keratoprosthesis skirt. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.36198

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