Growth of Hydroxyapatite on Silk Fibers Using Simulated Body Fluid

Abstract

Crystals of hydroxyapatite (HAp) were grown on silk fibers using simulated body fluid (SBF) at a temperature of 37°C. Two different conditions of silk thread were investigated for efficiency of inducing HAp: i) with sericin protein and ii) without sericin protein. Effect of simulated body fluid (SBF) concentrations at 1.0 × SBF and 1.5 × SBF and sericin protein on HAp growth was discussed. The results showed that HAp was successfully crystallized on silk from both 1.0 × SBF and 1.5 × SBF concentrations. The crystal size obtained from the 1.5 × SBF concentration was larger than that of the 1.0 × SBF concentration. However, it was found that the 1.5 × SBF offered less number of the crystals per unit area than that of the 1.0 × SBF. The physical and chemical compositions of HAp were characterized by XRD, SEM and optical microscopy. This study may be very useful for many applications, especially in biomedical and material science.