Effects of Temperature and Concentration on the Nano-Sized Hydroxyapatite Whisker Prepared by Chemical Precipitation Method

Abstract

Chemical precipitation is a popular method for the preparation of hydroxyapatite(Ca10 (PO4)6 (OH)2, HA) because of its simple operation. In this work, nano-sized HA whiskers were synthesized at various synthetic temperatures and concentration by chemical precipitation with Ca (NO3) 2·4H2O and (NH4) 2HPO4 as raw materials. Heat treatment was carried out after they were synthesized. The HA powders were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and strength test in order to find the favorable growing condition for HA whiskers. The results show that the HA prepared at different synthetic temperatures show no impurity diffraction peak, indicating that they have a high purity. Prior to heat treatment, the crystallinity and length/diameter ratio of the HA whiskers become larger with the increasing of synthetic temperature. So a higher synthetic temperature can promote the growth of the HA whiskers. There is no obvious difference in crystallinity after the heat treatment. Besides, a lower reaction concentration can also promote the growth of HA whiskers. The strength test results show that the compressive strength of the HA prepared gets a maximum value at 50°C.