Controlled architecture ceramic composites by stereolithography

摘要

A process for producing a ceramic composite having a porous network. The process includes providing a photocurable ceramic dispersion. The dispersion consists of a photocurable polymer and a ceramic composition. The surface of the dispersion is scanned with a laser to cure the photocurable polymer to produce a photocured polymer/ceramic composition. The photocured composition useful as a polymer/ceramic composite, or the polymer phase can be removed by heating to a first temperature that is sufficient to burn out the photocured polymer. It is then heated to a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature and is sufficient to sinter the ceramic composition to produce a purely ceramic composition having a porous network.Preferably and more specifically, the process uses a stereolithographic technique for laser scanning. The process can form a high quality orthopedic implant that dimensionally matches the bone structure of a patient. The technique relies upon laser photocuring a dense colloidal dispersion into a desired complex three-dimensional shape. The shape is obtained from a CAT scan file of a bone and is rendered into a CAD file that is readable by the stereolithography instrument. Or the shape is obtained directly from a CAD file that is readable by the stereolithography instrument.