The Potential of Hydroxyapatite-Alumina Composites for Artificial Bone Implant

The production of hydroxyapatite (HA) from bovine bone has been carried out, to which alumina (Al2O3) and ortho resin will be added to form HA-alumina composites. The aim of this research is to obtain HA-Alumina composites which can be used as artificial implants. Bovine bone waste was synthesized by mechanical thermal. Its charaterization was performed by means of X-Ray Fluorescene (XRF) for ratio (Ca:P) analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) for microstructure, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to analyze the crystals of HA, Electron Diffraction X-Ray (EDX) was utilized to measure the composition of HA-alumina composites. The mechanical method with calcination at a temperature of 800oC was conducted on bovine bones to obtain HA. The HA-alumina composite was continued with the addition of 0%, 15%, 25%, and 50% of the total weight of alumina by adding resin as a binder. Analysis with SEM showed irregular round grains with an average size of 42.25μm. The obtained XRF analysis result was a Ca/P ratio of 1.61. The hardness and tensile strength of the composite increased and the percentage of agglomeration area decreased as the alumina composition was added. The addition of 50% alumina resulted in maximum hardness and tensile strength values of 124.8 HB and 86.56 MPa. The addition of alumina increased the mechanical properties of hardness and tensile strength. Hence, HA-Alumina composites could be used as artificial bone implants.