Synthesis and Characterization of Hydroxyapatite/TiO2n Nanocomposites for Bone Tissue Regeneration

The development of nanostructured powders and materials is an innovative alternative that promises to replace many conventional autogenous, halogenous and exogenous biomaterials in the near future. Nanostructured biomaterials stand out as a highly current research topic and appear auspicious for biomedical applications, implant fixation and bone tissue reconstruction because their features differ from conventional biomaterials in terms of wettability, granule, grains surface area, and microporosity, which are favorable for new bone formation. The hydroxyapatite used as bone matrix in this study was produced by the Biomaterials Group of the Santa Catarina State University – UDESC (Brazil). The hydroxyapatite (HA) powder was obtained from synthesis by the dissolution-precipitation reaction of solid/liquid phase of CaO and phosphoric acid to form a composition with a Ca/P molar ratio of 1.67. The powder resulting from the synthesis was calcined at 900oC/2h, generating the HA phase with a low content of tricalcium phosphate -TCP (whitlockite). The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize four HA/TiO2n nanocomposite powder compositions in the form of microporous granules in concentrations of 1, 2, 3 and 5 vol.% of TiO2n. The phase morphology, powder and granule surface area, and bonding bands in different powder and granule compositions were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas absorption (BET).