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Nacre surface transformation to hydroxyapatite in a phosphate buffer solution.

Ming Ni1, Buddy D Ratner

  • 1Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials (UWEB), RM 484 Bagley Hall, 4th Floor, Box 351720, Seattle, WA 98195-1720, USA.

Biomaterials
|July 11, 2003
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Nacre, or mother-of-pearl, can transform into hydroxyapatite (HAP) at room temperature using a phosphate buffer. This surface reaction offers a new method for HAP synthesis from natural materials.

Area of Science:

  • Biomaterials science
  • Materials chemistry
  • Geochemistry

Background:

  • Nacre, the inner layer of mollusc shells, is a natural composite of calcium carbonate (aragonite) and organic matter.
  • Previous research demonstrated hydrothermal conversion of nacre to hydroxyapatite (HAP) at elevated temperatures (140-260°C).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the transformation of nacre to HAP at room temperature.
  • To characterize the resulting HAP surface and elucidate the reaction mechanism.

Main Methods:

  • Nacre samples were soaked in a phosphate buffer solution at room temperature.
  • Surface morphology was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
  • Chemical composition and phase transformation were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

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Main Results:

  • Nacre transformed into HAP at room temperature via a surface reaction, distinct from previous hydrothermal methods.
  • SEM revealed a particle-covered surface, differing from the typical nacre tablet structure.
  • XPS and SIMS confirmed the conversion of the aragonite phase to HAP.
  • FTIR indicated the appearance and increasing intensity of phosphate bands with exposure time.

Conclusions:

  • Nacre can be converted to HAP at room temperature through a surface dissolution-precipitation mechanism in a phosphate buffer.
  • This process involves the release of calcium ions from nacre, reaction with phosphate ions, and subsequent HAP precipitation.
  • The findings present a novel, low-temperature route for synthesizing HAP from a natural biomaterial.