Enhancement of cell viability of the (Ba,Ca)(Zr,Ti)O\(_{3}\) and hydroxyapatite composites for bone-repair applications

In this work, the influence of hydroxyapatite (HA) addition to the calcium/zirconium-doped barium titanate (BCZT) piezoceramic was investigated to evaluate its potential for bone-repair applications. The relationship between the physical, electrical, and biological properties of the (100-x)BCZT-(x)HA composite was observed via various techniques. The HA powder was synthesized via precipitation method, whereas the BCZT powder was produced by solid-state reaction to prepare the (100-x)BCZT-(x)HA composites, where x = 0 wt% to 50 wt%. The results showed that the dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric properties of the (100-x)BCZT-(x)HA composites decreased dramatically as introducing HA into BCZT due to the occurrence of secondary phases from the reactivity between BCZT and HA during sintering. However, although the addition of 10wt%HA into BCZT caused a significant drop of its electrical properties, the enhancement of MC3T3-E1 cell viability was found. Moreover, this work demonstrates for the first time that the number of viable cells observed in the poled 90BCZT-10HA ceramics was significantly higher than that observed in the unpoled BCZT ceramics. These results suggest that the BCZT-HA composite has potential for use in bone-repair applications.