Preparation and characterisation of porous titanium using plasma activated sintering technique

Porous titanium with pore size varying from <1 to 300 μm and with good connectivity was prepared by plasma activated sintering (PAS) technique with the addition of ammonium hydrogen carbonate (NH4HCO3) as the space holder and TiH2 as the foaming agent. The phase compositions of the sintered bodies were investigated by X-ray diffraction. In this work, the influences of sintering temperature and sintering time on the pore characteristics of porous titanium and on the microhardness of the sintered bodies were studied. Microstructures of the sintered samples were observed by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. Total porosity was determined by the Archimedes method, with water as an immersion medium. The results indicate that the characteristics of sintered samples strongly depend on the sintering parameters. The PAS technique may provide an approach for rapid fabrication of porous titanium with pores suitable for biomedical applications.