Surfactant-assisted synthesis and characterization of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

The objective of this study was to demonstrate a proof of concept for a technology platform which could produce engineered hydroxyapatite nanoparticles with respect to size, shape and morphology with ease and adapt it to a continuous production line. The conventional processes that are used in the production of hydroxyapatite are not only cumbersome but also expensive since the precursors are of high cost. It appears that none of the processes are capable of producing materials with different size, shape, porosity and more importantly the surface charge which is a very important characteristic for materials particularly used in medical applications. This paper shows that a single process line could eventually produce a designed nano product. The experiments were limited to producing Hydroxyapatite using inexpensive starting materials and simple unit operations. The results obtained demonstrate that nano Hydroxyapatite could be produced with variations in size, morphology and surface charge with the same experimental set up by changing several variables in the process conditions. Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles of varying crystal size, in different shapes such as needles, flakes and rhombic, surface charge from negative to positive were obtained in the same set up. The results demonstrated that by changing the conditions, it is possible to seamlessly vary the characteristic of nanomaterials. Bulk and continuous process line makes the process platform amenable for economical production.