Preparation of Nano Crystalline Forsterite Synthesized by Mechanical Activation to Use Orthopedic and Dental Applications

Abstract

Recently, forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄) has been introduced as a possible candidate for load bearing applications. In this investigation, forsterite powder was synthesized by mechanical activation method. Specimens were composed of a blend of pure magnesia (MgO) (98% purity, Merck) and silica amorphous (SiO₂) (98% purity, Merck) powder with 57 % wt. and 43%wt, respectively. The powder mixture was milled by high energy ball mill for 5 h and 10 h with ball to powder ratio 10. Then, the mixtures milled have been annealed at 1000 ºC for 2 h in muffle furnace. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET and PSA performed on the samples. According to XRD results, the sample milled for 10 h just shown the forsterite phase. In fact, our study indicated that forsterite powder was composed of nano-crystalline structure, about 40 nm, can be prepared by mechanical activation to use as a new biomaterials for orthopaedic purposes.