Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of Si and Sr co-substituted hydroxyapatite nanowires using strontium containing calcium silicate as precursors

• Si/Sr-HAp nanowires were hydrothermally transformed from Srx-CaSiO3 precursors.
• The Si/Sr-substitution level could be facilely regulated.
• The nanowire-like morphology and composition could be simultaneously regulated.

In the absence of any organic surfactants and solvents, the silicon (Si) and strontium (Sr) co-substituted hydroxyapatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, Si/Sr-HAp] nanowires were synthesized via hydrothermal treatment of the Sr-containing calcium silicate (Sr-CS) powders as the precursors in trisodium phosphate (Na3PO4) aqueous solution. The morphology, phase, chemical compositions, lattice constants and the degradability of the products were characterized. The Si/Sr-HAp nanowires with diameter of about 60 nm and up to 2 μm in length were obtained after hydrothermal treatment of the Sr-CS precursors. The Sr and Si substitution amount of the HAp nanowires could be well regulated by facile tailoring the Sr substitution level of the precursors and the reaction ratio of the precursor/solution, respectively. The SiO4 tetrahedra and Sr2 + ions occupied the crystal sites of the HAp, and the lattice constants increased apparently with the increase of the substitution amount. EDS mapping also suggested the uniform distribution of Si and Sr in the synthetic nanowires. Moreover, the Si/Sr-substitution apparently improved the degradability of the HAp materials. Our study suggested that the precursor transformation method provided a facile approach to synthesize the Si/Sr co-substituted HAp nanowires with controllable substitution amount, and the synthetic Si/Sr-HAp nanowires might be used as bioactive materials for hard tissue regeneration applications.