Fabrication of calcium phosphate fibres through electrospinning and sintering of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles

Calcium phosphate (CaP) materials such as synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca10(PO4)6·(OH)2) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP, Ca3(PO4)2) are well-known for their potential in bone tissue engineering and drug delivery applications. Processing such materials into submicrofibres might contribute to improve their biocompatibility. This paper presents a new method for creating CaP submicrofibres through the electrospinning route. A thermal treatment at sintering temperature (1100 °C) was applied to electrospun polymer fibres filled with hydroxyapatite nanoparticles to cause aggregation of the nanoparticles and vaporise the polymer matrix. The images taken by electron microscopy revealed that the treated samples maintained their submicrofibrous morphology. Moreover, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis confirmed that the resulting fibres are made of hydroxypatite and tricalcium phosphates.