Porous hydroxyapatite-titanium dioxide composites prepared by a sol-gel / supercritical CO2-drying combined process

HERNÁNDEZ ORTIZ, GLORIA M.; PARRA, RODRIGO; FRAILE, JULIO; DOMINGO, CONCEPCION; FANOVICH, M. ALEJANDRA

CERAMICS INTERNATIONAL

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2024 vol. 50 p. 13298 - 13307

0272-8842

In this work, porous nanostructured materials based on hydroxyapatite (HA) andtitanium dioxide (TiO2) were prepared by integrating the sol-gel process andsupercritical CO2 drying. These combined processes constitute a synergisticmethodology that allows modulating the porosity generated in the gel and preserving itafter drying. HA nanoparticles and a pore-generating agent (Polyvinylpyrrolidone) wereincluded without significant modifications to gel consolidation times or integrity by usingthis methodology. The presence of HA nanoparticles within the TiO2 matrix helpedpreserving the anatase phase after the calcination stage. No reactivity between thepresent phases was detected, indicating their successful integration in the finalcomposite material structure, which was one of the most challenging aspects of theresearch. The present work puts forward a new way for the synthesis of scaffoldscomposed of HA and TiO2 with retention of the anatase phase for applications in bonetissue engineering.