Regulatory synthesis and characterization of hydroxyapatite nanocrystals by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method

In this study, nanohydroxyapatite (HA) with a rod shape and controllable size was rapidly and efficiently synthesized in the presence of two different amino acids (glycine, serine) by a microwave hydrothermal method and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The observed results showed that samples prepared by the microwave hydrothermal method clearly have higher crystallinity than samples prepared using traditional hydrothermal methods. Meanwhile, the presence of amino acids significantly reduces the aspect ratio and crystallinity of hydroxyapatite, and the effect of serine is additionally more obvious. By co-culturing with osteoblasts MC3T3-E1, the extract of amino acid-regulation-hydroxyapatite exhibits better cytocompatibility than the pure products, which indicates a promising material for application to engineering scaffolds, drug/protein delivery carriers and other biomedical applications.