Influence of supersaturation on particle size and crystallite size of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

Abstract

In this study, we investigate the influence of supersaturation on the particle size and crystallite size of Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, [ ( ) ( ) ]synthesized using the wet chemical precipitation technique. For the synthesis process, different concentrations of calcium hydroxide and orthophosphoric acid were used to achieve different supersaturations. The Ca/P molar ratio was kept at 1.67 while changing the supersaturation. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized using a laser particle analyzer, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDAX), and Fourier- Transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy to study their size, morphology, structure, and composition. The results showed that the particle size and crystallite size of Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles can be controlled by varying the precursor concentrations to initiate different supersaturations.