Production of highly porous titanium (Ti) scaffolds by vacuum-assisted foaming of titanium hydride (TiH2) suspension

Abstract

We produced highly porous titanium (Ti) scaffolds with large interconnected pores using vacuum-assisted foaming. To achieve this, a titanium hydride (TiH2) suspension was vigorously foamed under reduced pressure, then rapidly frozen at -70 degrees C, and finally freeze dried to remove frozen ice. The resulting green samples were heat-treated in a vacuum at 400 degrees C for 2 h to remove the organic phases and then at 1300 degrees C for 2 h to densify the Ti walls. Samples produced both with and without vacuum-assisted foaming showed good shape tolerance with a uniform porous structure. The samples produced using vacuum-assisted foaming had higher porosity (82 +/- 1.3 vol%) and larger pore size (150 +/- 65 mu m), but lower compressive strength (8.9 +/- 1.6 MPa). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.