Formation of modified whitlockite-related calcium phosphates under conditions of coprecipitation from aqueous solutions

Abstract

The features of phase formation during wet coprecipitation from aqueous system Сa2+–NO3––Х (Х – NaH2PO4, Na2HPO4, Na3PO4) at the molar ratio Са2+/РО43–=1.6 and room temperature have been investigated. It was found formation of whitlockite-related calcium phosphates (trigonal system, space group R-3c). The results of elemental analysis indicated the chemical modification of calcium phosphates by sodium cations (samples contained 0.3–0.6 wt.% Na+). According to the resulta of thermogravimetry, the synthesized samples contained up to 6 wt.% of sorption water. Heating of samples to the temperature of 6000C is accompanied by water removal and an increase in particle size from 20–50 nm to 500 nm. It was shown that the use of sodium nitrate as a source of sodium cations in the formation of sodium-containing calcium phosphates allows obtaining compositions of whitlockite- and apatite-related phases. The mass ratio of phases can be adjusted by changing the content of sodium cations in the initial solution. The synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetry, scanning electron microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy methods. Optimized conditions for preparation of whitlockite-related sodium-containing calcium phosphates as well as composites based on them with apatite-related phase can be further used in the development of materials with the required resorption rate for orthopedics.