Nanomaterials based on metal-doped hydroxyapatite with potential applications in orthopedic implants

M.LAURA DITTLER; M. LAURA DELL'ARCIPRETE; D. FABIO MERCADO; MÓNICA C. GONZALEZ

Conferencia; 6th International Conference on Science and Technology of Composite Materials; 2015

Induction of osteoblast growth, differentiation, and mineralization promotion are among the most important requirements to be supported by materials used for bone tissue repair. Synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAp) is in the forefront of research in tissue engineering. However, HAp use is limited by its high degree of crystallinity which results in a poor biodegradability. A recent strategy developed to favor osseointegration involves doping of HAp with metal ions such as Mg2+, Zn2+, and Fe2+. In this work, we report the synthesis and characterization of pure stoicheometric HAp, 10% Zn2+-doped HAp and 20% Fe2+-doped HAp, hereafter denominated HAp, ZnHAp and FeHAp, respectively. These nanomaterials were characterized by HRTEM, FTIR, TGA, XPS, XRD, DLS, Specific Surface Area, and Magnetization curves.FeHAp and ZnHAp were synthesized by an adaptation of the deposition wet-chemistry method at 80ºC. FeHAp nanoparticles showed superparamagnetic behavior depending on synthesis temperature (see Figure1).Nitrogen adsorption studies showed an increased particle surface area following the trend HAp < ZnHAp < FeHAp. Doping with Fe2+ ions leads to a loss of crystallinity of the HAp domains, as observed by XRD peak broadening. Table 1 shows the mobility, surface composition, hydrodynamic diameter, and surface area of the synthesized materials.We are currently working on the functionalization of FeHAp and ZnHAp particles with biomolecules to promote cell adhesion and proliferation.