Morphology control of hydroxyapatite microcrystals: Synergistic effects of citrate and CTAB

Using hydrothermal treatment and with the synergistic regulating effects of citrate and CTAB, various 3D hierarchical superstructure of hydroxyapatite (HAp) microcrystals were synthesized by simply adjusting the Ct/CTAB ratio and calcium-citrate complex (CC) morphology. The resulting superstructure was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) etc. With the shape transformation of CC from sphere-like colloid, nano-needle to lamellar-like particles, the final products were hollow spheres, bunched-like microrods and nanorod clusters, respectively. A possible mechanism for the formation of HAp hierarchical microstructure was proposed.