EXAFS study of structural disorder in carbonate-containing hydroxyapatites

A structural characterization of pure hydroxyapatite and partially carbonated hydroxyapatites has been performed using EXAFS spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy. Our findings show that marked structural changes within the hydroxyapatite unit cell accompany the substitution of the phosphate anion. Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy has shown that the incorporation of carbonate into the phosphate site alters the structural geometry beyond the nearest neighbor oxygen coordination to calcium in a manner consistent with an increase in structural disorder. The nearest neighbor coordination to calcium is not detectably affected by the presence of carbonate.