Characterizations of hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles produced by sol-gel method

Abstract

A pure ceramic powder of hydroxyapatite, Hap [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] can be produced by low temperature method namely sol-gel route. The sol-gel route is one of wet chemical synthesis techniques which produce the useful biomaterial particles. The production of HAp particles were carried out by varying the stirring speed from 100 to 500 rpm and sintering temperature from 600 °C to 800 °C. With further characterizations done, the HAp particles could be potentially used as immobiliser or solid support for microorganism attachment in fermentation process. The biomaterial possessed a good mechanical properties and excellent surface adsorption for microorganism by the electrostatic interation mechanism. The characterizations done were FT-IR for identifying functional groups, XRD for phase composition and crystallinity and SEM for surface morphology. Hence, the smaller primary particle size of HAp was produced with increased stirring rate and sintered temperature.