Spherical Porous Microparticle of Hydroxyapatite/Polysaccharides Nanocomposites

Abstract

Nanocomposites of hydroxyapatite / chondroitin sulfate or hyaluronic acid were prepared by a wet method through a self-organization. In the nanocomposites, the c-axis of hydroxyapatite nanocrystals was oriented along the longitudinal axis of the aggregations. The spherical porous microparticles by using a spray drying method were developed with the size range of 1.0 to 20 µm, specific surface area of c.a. 100 m2g-1 and porosities of over 60vol%. No thermal decomposition of polysaccharides was occurred through the spray drying processes. It is note worth that the zeta-potential of the microparticles were gradually changed to be negative value of -35mV against the content of polysaccharides. The animal experiments implanted under the skin showed that the HAp/ChS had a good biocompatibility for 4 week implantations. The spherical microparticles will be applicable to create more complicated composites and drug carriers.