Surface Structure and Properties of Calcium Hydroxyapatite Modified by Hexamethyldisilazane

Resorbable Nanocomposites with Bone-Like Strength and Enhanced Cellular Activity

Bone cements for treatment of fractures at weight-bearing sites are subjected to dynamic physiological loading from daily activities. An ideal bone cement rapidly sets after injection, exhibits bone-like strength, stimulates osteogenic differentiation of endogenous cells, and resorbs at a rate aligned with patient biology. However, currently available materials fall short of these targeted properties. Nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (nHA) enhances osteogenic differentiation, new bone formation, and osteoclast differentiation activity compared to amorphous or micron-scale crystalline hydroxyapatite. However, the brittle mechanical properties of nHA precludes its use in treatment of weight-bearing bone defects. In this study, we report settable nHA-poly(ester urethane) (PEUR) nanocomposites synthesized from nHA, lysine triisocyanate (LTI), and poly(caprolactone) triol via a solvent-free process. The nanocomposites are easily mixed and injected using a double-barrel syringe, exhibit mechanical properties exceeding those of conventional bone cements, enhance mineralization of osteoprogenitor cells in vitro, and undergo osteoclast-mediated degradation in vitro. This combination of properties cannot be achieved using other technologies, which underscores the potential of nHA-PEUR nanocomposites as a new approach for promoting bone healing at weight-bearing sites.

Flammability and oxidation kinetics of hydrophobic silica aerogels

Silica aerogels (SAs) present great application prospects especially on thermal insulation, but their flammability is usually ignored. A combined study on the combustion behaviors and oxidation kinetics of hydrophobic silica aerogels prepared by ambient pressure drying (SA-apd) and supercritical drying (SA-sd) was performed by employing cone calorimeter and thermal analysis. The whole combustion process for SAs could be divided into three stages in which a fire propagation phenomenon was observed with the radial propagation velocity of 6.6-8.3cms^-1. Current investigations forcefully demonstrated that hydrophobic SAs were combustible and easy to flashover when exposed to a heat flux higher than 25kWm^-2. Compared between the two SAs, the SA-sd owned a less fire risk with presenting a less fire hazard and a lower smoke toxicity than those of SA-apd. The oxidation kinetics by Ozawa-Flynn-Wall method revealed that SA-sd had larger apparent activation energies than those of SA-apd which conformed to the thermal stability analysis by TG-DSC. Furthermore, a two-step combustion mechanism was proposed to explain the combustion behaviors of SAs.

Using MRI to detect and differentiate calcium oxalate and calcium hydroxyapatite crystals in air-bubble-free phantom

Calcium oxalate (CaOX) crystals and calcium hydroxyapatite (CaHA) crystals were commonly associated with breast benign and malignant lesions, respectively. In this research, CaOX (n = 6) and CaHA (n = 6) crystals in air-bubble-free agarose phantom were studied and characterized by using MRI at 9.4 T scanner. Calcium micro-crystals, with sizes that ranged from 200 to 500 µm, were made with either 99% pure CaOX or CaHA powder and embedded in agar to mimic the dimensions and calcium content of breast microcalcifications in vivo. MRI data were acquired with high spatial resolution T2-weighted (T2W) images and gradient echo images with five different echo times (TEs). The crystal areas were determined by setting the threshold relative to agarose signal. The ratio of crystal areas was calculated by the measurements from gradient echo images divided by T2W images. Then the ratios as a function of TE were fitted with the radical function. The results showed that the blooming artifacts due to magnetic susceptibility between agar and CaHA crystals were more than twice as large as the susceptibility in CaOX crystals (p < 0.05). In addition, larger bright rings were observed on gradient echo images around CaHA crystals compared to CaOX crystals. Our results suggest that MRI may provide useful information regarding breast microcalcifications by evaluating the apparent area of crystal ratios obtained between gradient echo and T2W images.

Fabrication and characterization of dendrimer-functionalized mesoporous hydroxyapatite

A successful synthesis of mesostructured hydroxyapatite (HAp) using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and poly(amido amine) dendrimer porogens has been reported. A comparative study of physicochemical properties has also been performed. The formation of a single-phase hydroxyapatite crystal in synthesized HAp particles with an aspect ratio of 2.3 was revealed. The formation of the mesostructural nature of HAp was proven with a specific surface area (56-63 m(2)/g) and a certain pore size (4.7-5.5 nm), although there were significant differences between particles from surfactant micelle and dendrimer porogens. In addition, the surface modification of mesoporous HAp particles was carried out using poly(amido amine) dendrimer. The content and thickness of the dendrimer coating on particle surfaces were highly dependent on the pH. At pH 9 or greater, the coating thickness corresponded to at least a double layer of dendrimer, but it decreased sharply with decreasing pH from 9 to 6, in agreement with the protonation of amine groups in the dendrimer, indicating the strong interaction of nonionic dendrimer with HAp. The developed dendrimer-functionalized mesoporous hydroxyapatite materials may be applicable in biocomposite material and/or bone tissue engineering.

Problem of hydroxyapatite dispersion in polymer matrices: a review

This review summarizes recent work on manufacturing biocomposites suitable for bone tissue engineering. There is a great need to engineer multi-phase (i.e. composite) materials that combine the advantages exhibited by each component of the material, with a structure and composition similar to that of natural bone. The discussion concentrates on the preparation of nanocomposites containing hydroxyapatite particles (one of the most widely used bioceramics materials) with polymer matrices. Special attention is paid to the preparation of nanocomposites with individual (non-aggregated) nanoparticles because this is a key problem in nanotechnology industrialization. Controlling the mixing between so two dissimilar phases is a critical challenge in the design of these inorganic-organic systems. Several approaches that may be applied to overcome this problem will be described in this review.

Surface modification of calcium hydroxyapatite with pyrophosphoric acid

The surface of synthetic colloidal calcium hydroxyapatite (Ca(10)(PO(4))(6)(OH)(2); CaHap) was treated with pyrophosphoric acid (H(4)P(2)O(7); PP) in acetone and the materials were characterized by XRD, thermal analysis, N(2) adsorption, TEM, and FTIR. No remarkable change in XRD patterns or in particle morphology by the modification was observed. The additional amount of PO(4) of CaHap was increased with an increase in PP concentration. The Ca/P molar ratio of CaHap was decreased from 1.62 to 1.35 by the modification. IR results indicated that the PP reacts with surface P-OH groups of CaHap to form additional surface P-OH groups as follows: surface P-OH+H(4)P(2)O(7)--> surface P-O-PO(OH)(2) + H(3)PO(4). When the modified CaHap with Ca/P molar ratio less than 1.50 was treated at 850 degrees C in air, the materials transformed into beta-Ca(3)(PO(4))(2).