As a case study, the present paper illustrates an innovative processing method employing a preceramic polymer containing different fillers, which can be used to manufacture various ceramic components for biomedical applications. Crack-free wollastonite (CaSiO3) ceramics were successfully produced, with high phase purity, after heating at 900°C in air starting from a silicone resin containing CaCO3 micro-sized particles as ‘active filler’. As ‘passive filler’, wollastonite preceramised powders as well as commercially available wollastonite fibres were added. Their presence reduces the gas evolution occurring due to the decomposition of the calcium carbonate active filler and the polymer-to-ceramic conversion, reducing the stresses that generate in the component during heating. The resulting samples exhibited improvements in terms of the morphology and the mechanical strength, with respect to samples not containing any passive fillers, without significant modification of the final phase assemblage.
MohammadiH., HafeziM., NezafatiN., HeasarkiS., NadernezhadA., GhazanfariS. M. H. and SepantafarM.: ‘Bioinorganics in bioactive calcium silicate ceramics for bone tissue repair: bioactivity and biological properties’, J. Ceram. Sci. Technol., 2014, 5,1–12.
2.
WuC. and ChangJ.: ‘A review of bioactive silicate ceramics’, Biomed. Mater., 2013, 8, 032001. doi: 10.1088/1748-6041/8/3/032001
3.
WuC., ChangJ. and XiaoY.: ‘Advanced bioactive inorganic materials for bone regeneration and drug delivery’, 25–40; 2013, Boca Raton, CRC Press.
4.
MohammadiH., SepantafarM. and OstadrahimiA.: ‘The role of bioinorganics in improving the mechanical properties of silicate ceramics as bone regenerative materials’, J. Ceram. Sci. Technol., 2015, 6, 1–8.
5.
ZhaoW., WangJ., ZhaiW., WangZ. and ChangJ.: ‘The self-setting properties and in vitro bioactivity of tricalcium silicate’, Biomaterials, 2005, 26, 6113–6121. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.04.025
6.
MeisztericsA. and SinkóK.: ‘Sol–gel derived calcium silicate ceramics’, Colloids Surf. A, 2008, 319, 143–148. doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2007.08.021
7.
LinK., ChangJ., ZengY. and QianW.: ‘Preparation of macroporous calcium silicate ceramics’, Mater. Lett., 2004, 58, 2109–2113. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2004.01.008
8.
LinK., ChangJ. and LuJ.: ‘Synthesis of wollastonite nanowires via hydrothermal microemulsion methods’, Mater. Lett., 2006, 60, 3007–3010. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2006.02.034
9.
SainzM. A., PenaP., SerenaS. and CaballeroA.: ‘Influence of design on bioactivity of novel CaSiO3–CaMg(SiO3)2 bioceramics: In vitro simulated body fluid test and thermodynamic simulation’, Acta Biomater., 2010, 6, 2797–2807. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2010.01.003
10.
HölandW. and BeallG.: ‘Glass-ceramic technology’; 2002, Westerville, OH, The American Ceramic Society.
11.
AlemanyM. I., VelasquezP., de la Casa-LilloM. A. and De AzaP. N.: ‘Effect of materials’ processing methods on the “in vitro” bioactivity of wollastonite glass-ceramic materials’, J. Non-Cryst. Sol., 2005, 351, 1716–1726. doi: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2005.04.062
12.
SepulvedaP., JonesJ. R. and HenchL. L.: ‘Bioactive sol–gel foams for tissue repair’, J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 2002, 59, 340–348. doi: 10.1002/jbm.1250
13.
LongL. H., ChenL. D. and ChangJ.: ‘Low temperature fabrication and characterizations of β-CaSiO3 ceramics’, Ceram. Int., 2006, 32, 457–460. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2005.03.023
14.
LiuX. and DingC.: ‘Characterization of plasma sprayed wollastonite powder and coatings’, Surf. Coat. Technol., 2002, 153, 173–177. doi: 10.1016/S0257-8972(01)01666-8
15.
XueW., LiuX., ZhengX. B. and DingC.: ‘In vivo evaluation of plasma sprayed wollastonite coating’, Biomaterials, 2005, 26, 3455–3460. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2004.09.027
16.
XueW. and DingC.: ‘Plasma sprayed wollastonite/TiO2composite coatings on titanium alloys’, Biomaterials, 2002, 23, 4065–4077. doi: 10.1016/S0142-9612(02)00143-6
17.
ZhongH. B., WangL. J., FanY. C., HeL. F., LinK. L., JiangW., ChangJ. and ChenL. D.: ‘Mechanical properties and bioactivity of β-Ca2SiO4 ceramics synthesized by spark plasma sintering’, Ceram. Int., 2011, 37, 2459–2465. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2011.03.037
18.
Sreekanth ChakradharR. P., NagabhushanaB. M., ChandrappaG. T., RameshK. P. and RaoJ. L.: ‘Solution combustion derived nanocrystalline macroporous wollastonite ceramics’, Mater. Chem. Phys., 2006, 95, 169–175. doi: 10.1016/j.matchemphys.2005.06.002
19.
Hafezi-ArdakaniM., MoztarzadehF., RabieeM. and TalebiA. R.: ‘Synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline merwinite (Ca3Mg(SiO4)2) via sol-gel method’, Ceram. Int., 2011, 37, 175–180. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2010.08.034
20.
WuC., RamaswamyY., GaleD., YangW., XiaoK., ZhangL., YinY. and ZreiqatH.: ‘Novel sphene coatings on Ti-6Al-4V for orthopedic implants using sol-gel method’, Acta Biomater., 2008, 4, 569–576. doi: 10.1016/j.actbio.2007.11.005
21.
ZhaoY. K., NingC. Q. and ChangJ.: ‘Sol-gel synthesis of Na2CaSiO4 and its in vitro biological behaviors’, J. Sol-Gel Sci. Technol., 2009, 52, 69–74. doi: 10.1007/s10971-009-2006-2
22.
DuR. and ChangJ.: ‘Preparation and characterization of bioactive sol-gel-derived Na2Ca2Si3O9’, J. Mater. Sci., Mater. Med., 2004, 15, 1285–1289. doi: 10.1007/s10856-004-5736-2
23.
FioccoL., ElsayedH., BernardoE., DaguanoJ. K. M. F. and SoaresV. O.: ‘Silicone resins mixed with active oxide fillers and Ca-Mg silicate glass as alternative/integrative precursors for wollastonite-diopside glass-ceramics foams’, J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 2015, 416, 44–49. doi: 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2015.03.001
24.
FioccoL., ElsayedH., BernardoE., FerroniL., GardinC. and ZavanB.: ‘Bioactive wollastonite-diopside foams from preceramic polymers and reactive oxide fillers’, Materials, 2015, 8, 2480–2494. doi: 10.3390/ma8052480
25.
ElsayedH., ZoccaA., FranchinG., BernardoE. and ColomboP.: ‘Hardystonite bioceramics from preceramic polymers’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2016, 36, 829–835.
26.
VakifahmetogluC.: ‘Fabrication and properties of ceramic 1D nanostructures from preceramic polymers: a review’, Adv. Appl. Ceram., 2011, 110, 188–204. doi: 10.1179/1743676111Y.0000000007
27.
TaoX. Y., WeiX. Y., ChenQ., LuW. Z., MaM. and ZhaoT.: ‘Synthesis, characterisation and thermal behaviour of new preceramic polymers for zirconium carbide’, Adv. Appl. Ceram., 2013, 112, 301–305. doi: 10.1179/1743676113Y.0000000076
28.
BernardoE., ParcianelloG., ColomboP., HessU., TreccaniL. and RezwanK.: ‘SiAlON bonded SiC ceramics from silicone polymer and nanosized fillers’, Adv. Appl. Ceram., 2013, 112, 158–162. doi: 10.1179/1743676112Y.0000000061
29.
GötschelI., GutbrodB., TravitzkyN., RoosenA. and GreilP.: ‘Processing of preceramic paper and ceramic green tape derived multilayer structures’, Adv. Appl. Ceram., 2013, 112, 358–365. doi: 10.1179/1743676113Y.0000000090
30.
ElsayedH., ZoccaA., BernardoE., GomesC. M., GünsterJ. and ColomboP.: ‘Development of bioactive silicate-based glass-ceramics from preceramic polymer and fillers’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2015, 35, 731–739. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2014.09.020
31.
ZoccaA., ElsayedH., BernardoE., GomesC. M., Lopez-HerediaM. A., KnabeC., ColomboP. and GünsteretJ.: ‘3D-printed silicate porous bioceramics by using a non-sacrificial preceramic polymer binder’, Biofabrication, 2015, 7, 025008. doi: 10.1088/1758-5090/7/2/025008
32.
ElsayedH. and ColomboP.: unpublished results, 2015.
33.
ColomboP., MeraG., RiedelR. and SorarùG. D.: ‘Polymer-derived ceramics: 40 years of research and innovation in advanced ceramics’, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 2010, 93, 1805–1837.
34.
GreilP.: ‘Near net shape manufacturing of polymer derived ceramics’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 1998, 18, 1905–1914. doi: 10.1016/S0955-2219(98)00129-0
35.
ColomboP.: ‘Engineering porosity in polymer-derived ceramics’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2008, 28, 1389–1395. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2007.12.002
36.
SchwarzK. B. and RowcliffeD. J.: ‘Modeling density contributions in preceramic polymer/ceramic powder systems’, J. Am. Ceram. Soc., 1986, 69, C106–C108.
37.
BernardoE., ParcianelloG., ColomboP. and MatthewsS.: ‘Wollastonite foams from an extruded preceramic polymer mixed with CaCO3 microparticles assisted by supercritical carbon dioxide’, Adv. Eng. Mater., 2013, 15, 60–65. doi: 10.1002/adem.201200202
38.
BernardoE., TomasellaE. and ColomboP.: ‘Development of multiphase bioceramics from a filler-containing preceramic polymer’, Ceram. Int., 2009, 35, 1415–1421. doi: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2008.07.003
39.
BernardoE., ColomboP., CacciottiI., BiancoA., BediniR., PecciR., PardunK., TreccaniL. and RezwanK.: ‘Porous wollastonite–hydroxyapatite bioceramics from a preceramic polymer and micro- or nano-sized fillers’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2012, 32, 399–408. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2011.08.010
40.
GouZ., ChangJ. and ZhaiW.: ‘Preparation and characterization of novel bioactive dicalcium silicate ceramics’, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc., 2005, 25, 1507–1514. doi: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2004.05.029
41.
NiS., ChangJ. and ChouL.: ‘A novel bioactive porous CaSiO3 scaffold for bone tissue engineering’, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. A, 2006, 76A, 196–205. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.30525
42.
De AzaP. N., LuklinskaZ. B., MartinezA., AnseauM. R., GuitianF. and De AzaS.: ‘Morphological and structural study of pseudowollastonite implants in bone’, J. Microsc., 2000, 197, 60–67. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2818.2000.00647.x
