Transparent Aggregates of Nanocrystalline Hydroxyapatite

Abstract

Assemblies of nanoparticles into transparent aggregates have solicited strong research interest in the form of both crystalline or amorphous aggregates of nanoparticles. In the present work, we make short-range ordered several millimeter-sized transparent aggregates of citrate modified calcium phosphate nanoparticles and discuss the mechanism of their formation. Microparticles of hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanocrystals and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) were synthesized with citrate as a growth and assembly modifier. Millimeter-sized transparent aggregates of these microparticles were made with 0 to 7.5% citrate/Ca2+. The degree of crystallinity, i.e., the ratio between nanocrystalline HAP and ACP in the microparticles, was determined by Rietveld refinement of powder X-ray diffraction data with an internal standard. It was found to decrease with increasing citrate concentration. Citrate also reduced the nanocrystallite size at low citrate concentrations. Above ∼3% added citrate, the crystallite size did not reduce further. Transparent aggregates were obtained by drying a suspension of particles. The aggregates lacked long-range order and in many cases featured spiral fractures partially propagating through the aggregates. The assembly mechanisms were studied by in situ video imaging, polarized optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal microscopy. The transparent aggregates consisted of polydisperse microparticles. The transparent aggregates form due to evaporation, but sedimentation leads to vertical size segregation with larger microparticles preferentially located at the bottom of the sample.