A comparative study of hydroxyapatite nanostructures produced under different milling conditions and thermal treatment of bovine bone

In the present investigation the effects of milling parameters (time, atmosphere, and media) and chemical composition of raw materials on the mechanochemical synthesis of nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (n-HAp) were studied. For a comparative study of the mechanically activated samples versus thermally treated specimen (natural origin), n-HAp was also produced via annealing of bovine bone at 800 °C for 2 h. The gained powders exhibited average sizes about 32 and 27 nm under air atmosphere, and about 32 and 34 nm under argon atmosphere. TEM images confirmed the formation of n-HAp with various morphologies under different experimental conditions.