Mechanochemical synthesis of fluoridated hydroxyapatite nanopowder

Recently fluoridated hydroxyapatite (FHA) has been developed since it possesses lower solubility than pure hydroxyapatite (HA), while maintaining the comparable bioactivity and biocompatibility in dental and orthopedic application. The aim of this work was to synthesize and characterize the FHA nanopowder via mechanochemical activation method. Mechanochemical reaction was performed in the planetary ball mill at 300 rpm rotation speed by using 8 balls with 2 cm diameter. XRD technique was used to evaluate phase and composition and determine the grain size of prepared FHA nanopowder. FTIR spectroscopy was utilized to identify the functional groups and to compare obtained powder with bone apatite. The results showed that the synthesis of FHA after 6 hr ball milling at 300 rpm was completed. Fluorhydroxyapatite grain size was almost 37nm after 6 hr of milling.