Porous ceramics prepared from nano-sized hydroxyapatite powders by adding water soluble starch and insoluble starch were investigated. The results show that small pores of several micrometers or less can be produced by adding water soluble starch as a pore former. Two kinds of starch have different pore forming mechanisms. The permeability of the porous ceramics can be greatly improved by adding the insoluble starch to channel the small pores rather than solely using water soluble starch. The control of permeability can be achieved by adjusting the content ratio of water soluble starch to insoluble starch. Strength tests show the ceramics have rather high strength. Therefore a kind of porous filtering material with small pores, controllable permeability and good strength can be prepared by using starch additives.
