Hydroxyapatite
Hydroxyapatite
Main page
2012872

Hydroxyapatite

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Hydroxyapatite

Hydroxyapatite (IMA name: hydroxylapatite) (Hap, HAp, or HA) is a naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite with the formula Ca5(PO4)3(OH), often written Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 to denote that the crystal unit cell comprises two entities. It is the hydroxyl endmember of the complex apatite group. The OH ion can be replaced by fluoride or chloride, producing fluorapatite or chlorapatite. It crystallizes in the hexagonal crystal system. Pure hydroxyapatite powder is white. Naturally occurring apatites can, however, also have brown, yellow, or green colorations, comparable to the discolorations of dental fluorosis.

Up to 50% by volume and 70% by weight of human bone is a modified form of hydroxyapatite, known as bone mineral. Carbonated calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite is the main mineral of which dental enamel and dentin are composed. Hydroxyapatite crystals are also found in pathological calcifications such as those found in breast tumors, as well as calcifications within the pineal gland (and other structures of the brain) known as corpora arenacea or "brain sand".

Hydroxyapatite can be synthesized via several methods, such as wet chemical deposition, biomimetic deposition, sol-gel route (wet-chemical precipitation) or electrodeposition. The hydroxyapatite nanocrystal suspension can be prepared by a wet chemical precipitation reaction following the reaction equation below:

The ability to synthetically replicate hydroxyapatite has invaluable clinical implications, especially in dentistry. Each technique yields hydroxyapatite crystals of varied characteristics, such as size and shape. These variations have a marked effect on the biological and mechanical properties of the compound, and therefore these hydroxyapatite products have different clinical uses.

Calcium-deficient (non-stochiometric) hydroxyapatite, Ca10−x(PO4)6−x(HPO4)x(OH)2−x (where x is between 0 and 1) has a Ca/P ratio between 1.67 and 1.5. The Ca/P ratio is often used in the discussion of calcium phosphate phases. Stoichiometric apatite Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 has a Ca/P ratio of 10:6 normally expressed as 1.67. The non-stoichiometric phases have the hydroxyapatite structure with cation vacancies (Ca2+) and anion (OH) vacancies. The sites occupied solely by phosphate anions in stoichiometric hydroxyapatite, are occupied by phosphate or hydrogen phosphate, HPO2−4, anions. These calcium-deficient phases can be prepared by precipitation from a mixture of calcium nitrate and diammonium phosphate with the desired Ca/P ratio, for example, to make a sample with a Ca/P ratio of 1.6:

Sintering these non-stoichiometric phases forms a solid phase which is an intimate mixture of tricalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite, termed biphasic calcium phosphate:

Hydroxyapatite is present in bones and teeth; bone is made primarily of HA crystals interspersed in a collagen matrix—65 to 70% of the mass of bone is HA. Similarly HA is 70 to 80% of the mass of dentin and enamel in teeth. In enamel, the matrix for HA is amelogenins and enamelins instead of collagen. Importantly, hydroxyapatite-coated orthopedic implants perform better in certain patients. For instance, for patients with steatotic liver disease hydroxyapatite-coated titanium has superior properties. Hence, the potential of hydroxyapatite in the engineering of biomaterials is considered substantial.

Hydroxyapatite deposits in tendons around joints results in the medical condition calcific tendinitis.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.