Feasibility study of SiC-ceramics as a potential materialfor bone implants

In this paper, we discuss silicon carbide (SiC)ceramics as potential materials for biomedical applications.SiC samples were prepared without addition of undesiredelements that might have adverse health effect and werecharacterized with respect to mechanical and magneticproperties, bioactivity, wetting behavior, and release ofions. The materials characteristics are compared to thosefor Ti6Al4V alloy. Among the examined ceramics, SiCwith MgO as sintering aid met the expectation to thegreatest extent. Elastic modulus of the material with 24 %porosity is 80 GPa, flexural strength 180 MPa, and fracturetoughness*3 MPa m1/2. The material shows good wettingproperties and is weakly diamagnetic. On the other hand,bioactivity estimated on the basis of hydroxyapatite formationin simulated body fluid is only achieved by surfacemodification. Thus, although SiC ceramics show potentialfor use in biomedical applications, it should be furtherdeveloped to meet the requirements.