Mechanical properties' improvement of a tricalcium phosphate scaffold with poly-l-lactic acid in selective laser sintering

To improve the mechanical properties of a scaffold fabricated via selective laser sintering (SLS), a small amount (0.5–3 wt%) of poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) is added to the β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) powder. The fracture toughness of the scaffold prepared with the mixture powder containing 1 wt% PLLA increases by 18.18% and the compressive strength increases by 4.45% compared to the scaffold prepared from the β-TCP powder. The strengthening and toughening is related to the enhancement of β-TCP sintering characteristics via introducing a transient liquid phase in SLS. Moreover, the microcracks caused by the volume expansion due to the β–α phase transformation of TCP are reduced because of the PLLA inhibition function on the phase transformation. However, PLLA additive above 1 wt% would lead to a PLLA residue which will decrease the mechanical properties. The experimental results show that PLLA is an effective sintering aid to improve the mechanical properties of a TCP scaffold. (paper)