Precipitation at Room Temperature as a Fast and Versatile Method for Calcium Phosphate/TiO2 Nanocomposites Synthesis.

Ina Erceg,Maja Dutour Sikirić,Vida Strasser,Nadica Maltar-Strmečki,Jasminka Kontrec,Barbara Pem,Marija Ćurlin,Damir Kralj,Rinea Barbir,Borna Radatović,Ivana Vinković Vrček,Andreja Gajović,Suzana Šegota,Atiđa Selmani

doi:10.3390/nano11061523

Abstract

The constantly growing need for advanced bone regeneration materials has motivated the development of calcium phosphates (CaPs) composites with a different metal or metal-oxide nanomaterials and their economical and environmentally friendly production. Here, two procedures for the synthesis of CaPs composites with TiO2 nanoplates (TiNPl) and nanowires (TiNWs) were tested, with the immersion of TiO2 nanomaterials (TiNMs) in corrected simulated body fluid (c-SBF) and precipitation of CaP in the presence of TiNMs. The materials obtained were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering, and their hemocompatibility and ability to induce reactive oxygen species were evaluated. After 28 days of immersion in c-SBF, no significant CaP coating was formed on TiNMs. However, the composites with calcium-deficient apatite (CaDHA) were obtained after one hour in the spontaneous precipitation system. In the absence of TiNMs, CaDHA was also formed, indicating that control of the CaP phase formed can be accomplished by fine-tuning conditions in the precipitation system. Although the morphology and size of crystalline domains of CaDHA obtained on the different nanomaterials differed, no significant difference was detected in their local structure. Composites showed low reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and did not induce hemolysis. The results obtained indicate that precipitation is a suitable and fast method for the preparation of CaPs/TiNMs nanocomposites which shows great potential for biomedical applications.

Highlights

We have shown that by using precipitation systems with higher supersaturation than in corrected simulated body fluid (c-simulated body fluid (SBF)) it is possible to coat TiO2 nanoparticles (TiNPs) and titanate nanotubes (TiNTs) with calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CaDHA) [13]
Due to their smaller size, TiO2 nanoplates (TiNPl) were embedded within chain-like aggregates of spherical a different cium phosphate (ACP) particles, while ACP particles were formed on the surface of TiO2 nanowires (TiNWs)
CaDHA was the only calcium phosphates (CaPs) phase formed in the precipitation system without TiO2 nanomaterials (TiNMs) addition

Summary

Introduction

The modern way of life and population aging results in an increased frequency of chronic diseases, among which the most significant are hard tissue (bone and teeth) chronic creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). The only treatment for bone diseases or injuries is implantation which itself is connected with the risks of failure. These problems encourage the development of new, innovative implant materials. Such materials should be produced in environmentally friendly ways and be of low cost, available to as many patients as possible and, produce additional values for established healthcare systems. Among different classes of material of interest, calcium phosphates (CaPs)/TiO2 composites are of special interest because of the complementary advantages that these two materials possess [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]

Methods

Results

Conclusion