Preparation and Characterization of Mechanical Properties of Hydroxyapatite/Carbon Nanotube Laminated Ceramic Composites Consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Laminated xCNTs-HAP/yCNTs-HAP ceramic composites were consolidated using a spark plasma sintering(SPS) technique at SPS temperature 900°C, pressure 40MPa and holding time 5min. The effect of carbon nanotubes content and thickness of each layer on mechanical properties of the composites was investigated. It was demonstrated that the stratified structure improvedthe flexural strength obviously. All the flexural strength of laminar compositewashigher than that of single CNTs-HAP ceramic, up to 112.4MPa. Since the matrix of each layer wereHAP, the difference liesonly in the content of carbon nanotubes, thus avoiding the common problem of the interlayer bonding in other layered composites with different materials. In order to characterize the toughness of the layered composite, the stress-strain curve was compared showingthat the existence of the stratified structure improved the stress-strain obviously.