Crystallization of smooth amorphous calcium phosphate microspheres to core–shell hydroxyapatite microspheres

Abstract

Calcium phosphates (Ca-P) represent a significant class of biological minerals found in natural hard tissues. Crystallization through phase transformation of a metastable precursor is an effective strategy to guide the growth of crystalline Ca-P with exceptional functionality. Despite extensive research on Ca-P, the exact process during the crystallization of amorphous particles to hydroxyapatite (HA) remains elusive. Herein, pure HA microspheres with a core–shell structure are crystallized via dissolution and re-crystallization of smooth amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) microspheres. The transformation is initiated with the increase of the hydrothermal treatment time in the presence of sodium trimetaphosphate and L-glutamic. The underlying mechanisms along with the kinetics of such transformation are explored. Nanocrystalline areas are formed on the smooth ACP microspheres and crystallization advances via nanometre-sized clusters formed by directional arrangement of nanocrystalline whiskers. Our findings shed light on a crucial but unclear stage in the genesis of HA crystals, specifically under the conditions of hydrothermal synthesis.