Mechanochemical synthesis of zinc-apatitic calcium phosphate and the controlled zinc release for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

In this study, in order to control zinc (Zn)-release from calcium phosphate (CaP), the crystalline forms of CaP-containing Zn were modified by wet ball milling and/or heat treatment. The CaP (CaO:CaHPO₄:ZnO = 7:20:3, molar ratio) was ground in a ball mill with the addition of purified water, and the ground products were heated to 400 °C and 800 °C. The physicochemical properties of these ground products were measured by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Zn release characteristics from the samples were evaluated using a dissolution tester. The results of XRD and IR suggested that the structures of the starting materials were destroyed after 2.5 h of grinding, and new apatite-like amorphous solid containing Zn was generated. The Zn-release from the ground products was markedly suppressed after 2.5 h of grinding.

• Controlled zinc release system
• energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• infrared spectroscopy
• powder X-ray dif fraction
• wet ball milling
• zinc-containing apatite-related calcium phosphate

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This work was supported by grants from Musashino Joshi-Gakuin.