Synthesis of bone-like structured foams

Here we present a processing route to produce multi-structured ceramic foams based on the combination of particle-stabilized foams with polymeric sponges to produce positive and negative templating structures. Polyester sponges are infiltrated with freshly produced calcium aluminate alumina foams and upon sintering either positive templating structures are produced when wetting the sponges, or negative templating foams with a percolating pore network are obtained when completely filling the sponges. Additionally, by combining different layers of these particle-stabilized foam infiltrated sponges, various different structures can be produced, including sandwich structures, pore size gradients, and ceramic bone-like structures applying to different types of bone. The particle-stabilized foams used were in situ self-hardening calcium aluminate cement enriched alumina foams to obtain crack-free samples with pore interconnections and tailorable pore sizes

Alkali‐free processing of advanced open‐celled sinter‐crystallized glass‐ceramics

The cooling of a melt corresponding to the eutectic between wollastonite (CaSiO3) and diopside (CaMgSi2O6) determines the synthesis of an interesting example of alkali-free bioactive glass, easily converted into glass-ceramics featuring two silicate phases, coupled also with åkermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7), by sinter-crystallization of fine glass powders at 1000°C. The fabrication of scaffolds by digital light processing of glass powders suspended in a photo-curable, sacrificial binder, is a well-established technique; the present paper aims at disclosing novel approaches, concerning the topology of scaffolds, offering components with remarkable strength, especially in bending conditions. As an alternative, glass-ceramic foams were fabricated by the firing of porous precursors derived from the gelation of suspensions of glass powders in alkali-free basic aqueous solution