Papers by Author: J.H. Robinson

Abstract: Precipitation routes for HA production result in the formation of suspensions of nano-scale hydroxyapatite particles in water. During this work, suspensions of phase-pure and carbonate-substituted hydroxyapatite were produced using a precipitation reaction with calcium hydroxide and orthophosphoric acid as reactants. The chemistry of the apatites was analysed using XRD and FTIR after heat treatment in various atmospheres and the particle morphology investigated using TEM. The thermal stability of the carbonate HA was found to be significantly less than the phase-pure HA and dependent upon the heat-treatment atmosphere. Suspensions were used directly for replication of polymer foam templates with a dip-coating technique. Good replication of the foam structure was achieved with the phase pure hydroxyapatite, but no structural integrity was achieved with the carbonate-HA structure possibly a result of limits on the sintering temperature.

Abstract: The production of nano-scale hydroxyapatite (HA) suspensions to be used for the reticulated foam method of scaffold production was investigated at temperatures of between 10 and 60OC. An increase in reaction temperature was associated with an increase in the particle size and some decrease in the aspect ratio of the particles. Pre-treatment of the polyurethane foam template using PPDS (potassium peroxodisulfate) solution resulted in a significantly improved coating of HA when compared to the untreated samples or those treated with ethanol. Initial trials coating the polyurethane with HA produced at the different reaction temperatures showed a superior coating with the suspension produced at 10OC compared to that at 60OC. A scaffold was produced using the HA suspension produced at room temperature, but further understanding of the suspension properties and the optimum conditions for coating of the PU foam are required for improved mechanical performance.