Bioceramic hydroxyapatite at high pressures

A bioceramic hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 polycrystalline sample was studied under high pressures in a diamond anvil cell to investigate its structural, electrical, and mechanical properties under compression. Anisotropic compression effects were observed in x-ray diffraction studies below 8 GPa. Nanoindentation hardness measurements on pressure-treated hydroxyapatite samples show hardness value of 4.0±0.5 GPa which is comparable to the plasma-sprayed samples. Electrical studies show that the bioceramic sample retained its insulating properties to 65 GPa. The present studies demonstrate that a fully dense and translucent hydroxyapatite sample is attained above 10 GPa at 300 K.