Replacement tissues for tissue engineering can be produced by seeding human cells onto scaffolds. In order to guarantee adequate bio-compatibility, porosity and mechanical resistance for promoting cellular growth, proliferation and differentiation within scaffold structures, it is necessary to investigate and improve materials and processing routes. β-tricalcium phosphate can be considered a very suitable bio-ceramic material for bone therapy because of its biocompatibility, osteo-conductivity and neo-vascularization potential. Alumina is commonly used as a sintering additive. In this study, β-TCP and β-TCP/Al2O3 scaffolds were obtained by gel-casting method. The scaffolds showed high porosity (86-88%) and pore sizes ranging from 200 to 500 µm. Even though alumina did not promote improvement in β-TCP/Al2O3 scaffolds in terms of mechanical performance, they showed great cytocompatibility as there was no cytotoxic and genotoxic effect. Therefore, β-TCP and β-TCP/Al2O3 scaffolds are good candidates for application in tissue engineering.

Spherical calcium phosphate cement carriers were synthesized by water/oil emulsion. A 23 factorial design was employed in order to optimize the size and form of the microspheres. Stirring speed, liquid-to-powder ratio and cement paste-to-oil ratio were varied in two different levels and the response variable was the microsphere's sphericity. The results showed that cement's setting reaction was responsible for stabilizing the microspheres within the oil phase resulting in a low crystalline hydroxyapatite. The sizes varied from 6.29 to 64.23 µm. From the factors studied, the stirring velocity and the interaction between the L/P ratio with the P/O ratio are the ones that are more effective in controlling microspheres' sphericity. The results suggest that the methodology studied may provide microspheres with appropriate properties to deliver cells and/or drugs without inducing inflammatory reactions.

Bioactivity, osteogenicity and mechanical properties of α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) based phosphates cements can be improved by adding tricalcium silicate (C3S); however, the addition of C3S delays the precipitation and growth of calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA). Thus, the aim of this work was the study of in situ setting reaction of α-TCP/C3S composite bone cement under high energy X-ray generated by a synchrotron source within the first 72h. The results showed that the addition of C3S induces the precipitation of nanosized CDHA at early times depending on the added content. Calculated crystallite sizes showed that the higher the content of C3S, the smaller the crystal size at the beginning of the precipitation. These results are different from those obtained by conventional XRD method, suggesting that the proposed technique is a powerful tool in determining the composition and extent of reaction of CPCs surfaces in real time.

The influence of silicon doping on calcium phosphate cement were explored in this work. α-TCP and Si-α-TCP were prepared by solid state reaction employing "Mg-free" CaHPO4, CaCO3 and CaSiO3 as precursors. It was possible to obtain TCP powders with low contents of β phase as contaminant. Cement liquid phase was an aqueous solution containing 2.5 wt. (%) of Na2HPO4 and 1.5 wt. (%) of citric acid. The liquid-to-powder ratio was 0.6 mL.g-1. Chemical, physical and mechanical properties of the cement samples were determined by means of XRD, FTIR, XRF, compressive strength and SEM. The calcium phosphate cements obtained achieved satisfactory properties; however, Si-α-TCP presented a decrease on the rate of setting reaction.

There are evidences considering the effectiveness of Si on enhancing biological properties of calcium phosphates; however, there are not many works relating to the Si-alpha-TCP bone cement. The influence of silicon doping on the properties of Α-TCP cement was analyzed. Si-TCP was obtained by a solid state reaction employing CaCO3, CaHPO4 and CaSiO3 and powder was analyzed by XRD, FTIR, XRF and BET specific area. Cement samples were analyzed for their surface of fracture morphology, mechanical resistance and SBF bioactivity. Cement mechanical resistance was not satisfactory for biomedical application; nonetheless, sample's surface was coated by an apatite layer after immersion in SBF. Notwithstanding, to ensure that silicon is the element responsible for increasing the material's bioactivity it is necessary to evaluate the in vivo performance of the bone cement obtained in this work.