Pumice and Perlite Co-Substituted Hydroxyapatite: Fabrication and Characterization

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to combine hydroxyapatite (HA) with pumice and volcanic silicate perlite. Doped hydroxyapatite is inexpensive and easy to produce. A precipitation procedure was applied for synthesizing pure and doped hydroxyapatite. Samples were sintered at 1100°C for 1 h. These doped structures are characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray Fluorescence. Higher $SiO_2 and Al_2O_3$ content was shown by XRF analysis. Nanoscale HA is obtained with density of 3.056 g/cm3. The XRD results revealed the existence of the HA, β-TCP and $Ca_5(PO_4)_2SiO_4$ phases. SEM images confirmed the sintering temperature and number of dopants had significant effect on grain sizes of the samples.