Chemical Precipitation Synthesis and Characterization of Zr-Doped Hydroxyapatite Nanopowders

Abstract

The great importance of hydroxyapatite in the field of biomaterial science inspires researchers to investigate various approaches to adjust and improve existing and to find out new useful properties of this class of materials. Doping of original hexagonal apatite crystal structure with a number of ions has been shown to improve phase stability, mechanical and electrical properties, as well as its biological applicability. Fabrication of Zr-HAp materials could be significant for mechanical properties improvement, teeth implant color adjustment, altogether with conserved bioactivity and without cell toxicity. In this study, simple chemical precipitation is used to synthesize zirconium-doped hydroxyapatite, Zr-HAp, with 0, 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 at.% of Zr. Phase purity was investigated by XRD, particles morphology by electron microscopy, while middle range arrangement and presence of different functional groups through IR and Raman spectroscopy studies. Efficiency of Zr-ions incorporation is checked by EDX chemical analysis.