Synthesis and thermal stability of potassium substituted hydroxyapatites and hydroxyapatite/β-tricalciumphosphate mixtures

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) and biphasic ceramics of two different HAP and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) proportions with substituted potassium were prepared through the aqueous precipitation method. The prepared powders were characterized using XRD, FT-IR and elemental analysis. The results have shown that potassium added during the synthesis was found present in the apatite structure even after calcination at 1300 °C without showing any significant change in the phase behaviour of resultant apatites. The substitution of potassium in the calcium deficient apatites was accompanied by the formation of biphasic mixture of HAP and β-TCP ceramics, upon calcination beyond 700 °C and the resultant mixtures were dependent on the initial Ca/P ratios of the precursors. The calculated cell constant values for potassium substituted apatites have shown contraction in a-axis and irregular changes in the c-axis relative to those of pure HAP prepared under the same experimental conditions.