Hydrothermal synthesis of hierarchical hydroxyapatite: Preparation, growth mechanism and drug release property

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) hierarchical microspheres were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method using calcium nitrate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate through controlling complexing agents. The influences of two kinds of complexing agents (potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate and trisodium citrate) and reaction time on the morphology of HAP crystals have been investigated. These results indicate that complexing agents have a great influence on the morphology of HAP. When potassium sodium tartrate tetrahydrate was used as complexing agent, HAP flowers were composed of the network of nanosheet building blocks. Well-crystallized HAP dandelions with nanorods radiating from the center can be obtained by the introduction of trisodium citrate. Broader XRD diffraction peaks imply a nanometer scale size. Based on XRD and SEM results, the formation mechanism of HAP crystals has been discussed. The hierarchically structured HAP microspheres were explored as drug carriers. The results indicate that HAP flowers and dandelions showed a favorable sustained release property for ibuprofen; thus, they are very promising for application in drug delivery.