Highly sinterable hydroxyapatite (HAp) ceramics were fabricated by the addition of polyethylene glycol (PEG) to a slurry consisting of CaO powder and phosphoric acid. The morphology of the synthesized powder was changed to a more porous structure and the particles showed a finer crystallite size by the addition of PEG in the solution process. The synthesized HAp powder employing PEG showed a higher surface area of 34.0 m2/g and a denser sintered microstructure in comparison with that prepared without PEG. The porous and soft agglomerated powders prepared by the application of the PEG polymer were easily dispersed to nano-sized powders of about 80~100 nm by an ultrasonic process and the powder compacts were well densified at 1300 οC for 1 h showing a fine grain size of 1.2 μm.

Keywords: PEG polymer, Hydroxyapatite, Sintering, Powder.