Fabrication and characterization of nanocrystalline Mg-substituted fluorapatite by high energy ball milling

The aim of this work was preparation and characterization of Mg-substituted nanostructured FA powders. Mg-substituted nanostructured FA powders were synthesized with a chemical composition of Ca10−xMgx(PO4)6F2, with x=0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 by mechanical alloying method. Successful substitution of Ca2+ with Mg ions in the fluorapatite lattice was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that after 12 h of milling, pure nanocrystalline Mg-substituted FA powders with different Mg contents were synthesized. The incorporation of Mg ions into the fluorapatite caused the decrease of the lattice parameters. With increasing Mg content, the crystallinity of powder decreased while the degree of agglomeration of powder increased. SEM and TEM analysis showed that the powder was agglomerated and composed of nanocrystalline particles with the average particle size of less than 100 nm.