Electrospinning/Electrospray
Preparation of Hydroxyapatite Fibers by Electrospinning Technique
Journal of the American Ceramic Society Volume 87 Issue 10 Page 1988 - October 2004 doi:10.1111/j.1151-2916.2004.tb06351.x | |
Preparation of Hydroxyapatite Fibers by Electrospinning Technique | |
Yiquan Wu1 and Larry L. Hench1 Jing Du2 and Kwang-Leong Choy2 Jingkun Guo3 | |
Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, HA) fibers were prepared by electrospinning a precursor mixture of Ca(NO3)2·4H2O and (C2H5O)3PO with a polymer additive, followed by a thermal treatment. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the annealed composite fibers revealed that pure HA phase could be obtained by annealing at 600°C for 1 h. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed the surface of as-electrospun composite fibers with an average diameter of 50 m was smooth due to the amorphous nature of the polymer. However, the surface of the calcined HA fibers was rough because of the complete removal of the polymer. The pure HA fibers obtained by electrospinning in this work were up to 10 mm in length and 1030 m in diameter and the hydroxyapatite grain size was 1 m in the HA fibers. |