abstract
A method to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HAP) ceramic powders using a metal-oxalate route with calcium chloride and phosphoric acid as calcium and phosphorus precursors respectively is described. Ethylene glycol was used as a reaction medium and oxalic acid as a chelating agent. The resulting HAP powders were calcined at 600 degrees C for 6 h and subsequently sintered at 900 degrees C for 2 h. FT-IR, XRD and SEM techniques were employed for the characterization of the synthesized particles. Moreover, the influence of reaction temperature on the HAP formation was also studied. The results have shown successful formation of the crystalline, uniform sized, uniform shaped and stoichiometric HAP powders at a reaction temperature of 75 degrees C which was found to be the optimum temperature for the preparation. The grain size of the synthesized sample was 680 nm in length and 440 nm in width. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
CALCIUM HYDROXYAPATITE; GEL; PRECIPITATION; CERAMICS; IMPLANTS; FIBERS; ROUTES
subject category
Materials Science; Physics
authors
Gopi, D; Bhalaji, PR; Prakash, VCA; Ramasamy, AK; Kavitha, L; Ferreira, JMF
our authors
José Maria da Fonte Ferreira
Retired Professoracknowledgements
One of the authors D.G would like to acknowledge the financial support from DST, India (F.No.SR/FTP/ETA-04/2009) and the Tamilnadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST), Tamilnadu. P.R.B would like to thank the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, for the Teacher Fellowship under the Faculty Development Programme (FDP). Also L. Kavitha acknowledges the financial support from ICTP, Italy in the form of Junior Associateship.