Characterization and In-Vitro Assessment of Nano-Hydroxyapatite Prepared by Polymeric Route

Hydroxyapatite is the most used calcium phosphate in implant production. In this study a novel method for the preparation of nano-hydroxyapatite is described. A mixture of calcium chloride and potassium hydrogen phosphate were introduced to the urea-formaldehyde resin during formation. The obtained resin was precalcined at 450°C to get rid of the organic materials. The prepared powder was characterized using XRD, thermal analysis (DTA, TG), FT-IR, TEM and SEM supplemented with EDAX. In particular, the results of XRD show that the powder produced at 900°C was wholly formed of nano-hydroxyapatite. TEM reveals that nano-hydroxyapatite particles have spherical shape and their size was less than 50 nm in width. SEM confirms the fine nature of the produced powder. The dielectric constant increases with increasing temperature and decreases with increasing frequencies. The dielectric loss shows a relaxation peak, which shifts to the higher frequency region with increasing temperature, conforming to a Debye-type relaxation process. In-vitro results show that fine grains of acicular hydroxyapatite were formed by immersing disc in simulated body fluid solution (SBF) proving the apatite formation onto the surface. Future work recommends incorporation of the prepared nano-sized hydroxyapatite into biocompatible polymer for tissue engineering applications.