Microstructure, Mechanical Properties, and In Vitro Studies of Porous Titanium Obtained by Spark Plasma Sintering

This study produced porous titanium by partial sintering using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) processing method. The sintering temperature used varied between 600 and 800 °C. In addition, porous titanium prepared by conventional powder metallurgy under Argon atmosphere was studied for comparison. The results showed that porous titanium had a porosity value ranging from 4.2 to 27.5%. A sintering temperature of 600–800 °C in the SPS would reduce the elastic modulus of titanium (13.6–24.4 GPa) to fit the elastic modulus of human bone (4–30 GPa). However, the in vitro studies showed that the porous titanium prepared by SPS at 600 °C, despite having preferred porosity, would have less cell viability compared to the porous titanium prepared by conventional powder metallurgy. Therefore, the oxidation and the densification process have more effect on biocompatibility since they correlate to the dissolution of titanium ions into the cell.