Synthesis and Characterization of Artificial Bone Material Using Calcium from a Natural Source

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HAp), with chemical formula of Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2,is one of the most popular biomaterials applied as a scaffold or a scaffold component in bone tissue engineering. Synthesis of this material using calcium from a natural sourcewill be a good strategy for cost reduction. Waste cockle shells containing abundance of nearly pure calcium carbonate (CaCO3) are ideal sources of calcium. In this study, the waste cockle shells were turned to CaO nanoparticles using a simple chemical route. The CaO nanoparticle was used as a starting material to react with hydrous and anhydrous calcium hydrogen phosphate (CaHPO4) with calcium-to-phosphate (Ca/P) ratios in the range of1.5-1.67 under a mechanochemical process. The synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction technique and scanning electron microscope.The experimental results revealed that under the same reaction timethe reaction using the dehydrated CaHPO4yielded a mixture ofHApand residual CaHPO4whereas the reaction using hydratedCaHPO4(CaHPO4.2H2O) yieldeda mixture of HApand beta tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). The HAp yields of the reactions using dehydrated and hydratedCaHPO4were 71% and 51 %, respectively.