Preparation of whisker-shaped hydroxyapatite/β-tricalcium phosphate composite

A novel-processing route for preparing whisker-shaped hydroxyapatite (HAp)/β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) composites has been developed and the resulting materials characterized. Relatively well-developed whisker-like HAp/β-TCP crystals can be prepared successfully by the hydrolysis of solid-state reacted α/β-TCP at 70–90 °C for 6–10 h using a microwave-heating source. The growth to whisker-shaped crystals occurred by a dissolution–precipitation reaction sometimes involving twinning in the product. It was possible to control the morphology of the reaction products by varying the hydrolysis temperature rather than time, which had a lesser effect. The reaction product obtained at 90 °C for 10 h resulted in the composite consisting of 58.6 HAp and 42.4 vol.% β-TCP, with a whisker-like morphology having an aspect ratio >4 (0.3–0.8 μm in diameter) and a Ca/P molar ratio of 1.59.