Low-temperature synthesis of nanoparticle-assembled, transparent, and low-crystallized hydroxyapatite blocks

The conditions for preparing transparent blocks assembled with low-crystallized hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles were examined. An aqueous dispersion of 32-nm-sized HAp nanoparticles was prepared by a wet chemical process at room temperature (18-22 °C), and then the nanoparticle-assembled block was prepared by casting the dispersion at 60 °C. We also proposed a novel casting method on flowable substrates to fabricate crack-free nanoparticle-assembled blocks, because large and thick blocks were not obtained by a conventional casting method on solid substrates due to crack formation. The nanoparticle-assembled transparent HAp had nanosized pores among the particles. Cell adhesion and proliferation on the block could be directly observed with an optical microscope.