Influence of low-temperature reaction time on morphology and phase composition of short calcium phosphate whiskers

Abstract

The present work shows the results of the synthesis of multiphasic calcium phosphate whiskers from a mixture of biphasic calcium phosphate (β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) and calcium pyrophosphate (CPP)) in the hydrogen peroxide solution-mediated process carried out in different time ranges. The process was performed at considerably lower temperature than typical hydrothermal methods used for obtaining of whiskers. Test results show that using the above-mentioned procedure triphasic calcium phosphate consisting of hydroxyapatite (HA), (β-TCP) and CPP can be obtained, where the whiskers are formed mainly from hydroxyapatite. It was found that morphology, phase composition and specific surface area of the reaction product can be controlled by changing the reaction time. The obtained triphasic HA/β-TCP/CPP short whiskers may be considered as a promising biocompatible and resorbable reinforcement in composites for bone tissue engineering with a faster resorption rate than that of HA.

Keywords

• bioceramics
• hydroxyapatite
• low-temperature synthetic technique
• whiskers