Biocompatible nanocrystalline natural bonelike carbonated hydroxyapatite synthesized by mechanical alloying in a record minimum time

Abstract

Single phase nanocrystalline biocompatible A-type carbonated hydroxyapatite (A-cHAp) powder has been synthesized by mechanical alloying the stoichiometric mixture of CaCO₃ and CaHPO₄.2H₂O powders in open air at room temperature within 2 h of milling. The A-type carbonation in HAp is confirmed by FTIR analysis. Structural and microstructure parameters of as-milled powders are obtained from both Rietveld's powder structure refinement analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Size and lattice strain of nanocrystalline HAp particles are found to be anisotropic in nature. Mechanical alloying causes amorphization of a part of crystalline A-cHAp which is analogous to native bone mineral. Some primary bond lengths of as-milled samples are critically measured. MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay test reveals high percentage of cell viability and hence confirms the biocompatibility of the sample. The overall results indicate that the processed A-cHAp has a chemical composition very close to that of biological apatite.