Effect of Yttrium Oxide in Hydroxyapatite Biocomposite Materials: Electrical and Antimicrobial Evaluation

Abstract

Synthesis and characterization of biocomposite materials of hydroxyapatite (HA) and yttrium oxide (Y2O3) were investigated. HA nanoparticles powder was obtained from mussel shells via a wet chemical precipitation routine. HA powder was doped with 1 and 2 wt% of Y2O3. For microstructural examination, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-rays (EDX) were used. In addition, the dielectric and electrical properties and antimicrobial activities were investigated. XRD patterns reveal the crystallization of the oxyapatite. The peak intensities of pristine HA are inferior compared to the yttrium containing HA composites, thus suggesting that the addition of yttrium promotes the crystallization of HA due to the variance in their ionic radii. FT-IR shows a variation in the phosphate wavenumber, indicating the integration of yttrium into the HA matrix. SEM reveals nanorod- or worm-like crystals arose in clusters. With increasing Y2O3, from 1 to 2 wt%, the DC conductivity reduces from 16 to 9.3 nS/cm, which confirms that high amounts of Y3+ substitute Ca2+ in the HA matrix. In the high-frequency range, the AC conductivity linearly increases with increasing frequency following the universal power law. Further, antimicrobial activity results showed that the addition of yttrium in HA improves the antimicrobial effects against pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Additional research is needed to investigate the doping concentration of yttrium ions, and an anticipated property could be comprehended for several forthcoming biomedical applications.