Apatite formation on carbon nanotubes

Apatite coating on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was done with a biomimetic coating method. The multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs) of curled shape with about 30 nm in diameter were immersed for 2 weeks in the simulated body fluid. Observation by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed the formation of apatite on the MWNTs surface. The clusters of spherules consisting of needle-shaped apatite crystallites were massively grown on the aggregated MWNTs. The crystallites of 100 nm in width and 200–500 nm in length were grown perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction and radially originating from a common center of a single MWNT. Thus, the architecture of crystalline apatite at nano-scale levels could be produced by simple method and the MWNT may be acting as core for initial crystallization of apatite.