FABRICATION OF THE HYBRID MATERIALS BY THE INTRODUCTION OF POLY(METHYLMETHACRYLATE) INTO THE POROUS HYDROXYAPATITE CERAMICS

Some porous hydroxyapatite ceramics were fabricated using the fibrous particles; most of the pores in these ceramics could be regarded as open pores. The methylmethacrylate monomer containing the polymerization initiator was induced into the open pores of the above porous ceramics in a chamber under reduced pressure; such introduced monomer was polymerized by heating it at 60 °C for 48 h. The SEM observation showed that the poly (methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) was present inside the porous HAp ceramics. Among the HAp-PMMA hybrid materials derived from various porous ceramics, the highest fracture toughness was 3.2 MPa•m^1/2, which was ˜ times higher than that of the dense HAp ceramics.