Nucleation and growth of brushite crystals on the graphene sheets applicable in bone cement

Since recent research indicates that the addition of graphene increases the mechanical and biological properties of calcium phosphates simultaneously, graphene oxide (GO) was used in this research to enhance the properties of brushite cement. The main objective of this study is to investigate the mechanism of nucleation and growth of brushite crystals on GO sheets. Calcium nitrate tetrahydrate and diammonium hydrogenphosphate were used as calcium and phosphate precursors. The brushite chemical precipitation method on graphene sheets was used in this study and computer-assisted modeling was used to understand the process. The results of this study showed that the hybrid powders contained brushite and GO. Brushite crystals were grown after nucleation in proportion to the three main planes containing (020), (121), and (141). The final particles were plate shaped. The results of setting time tests showed that increasing the GO% decreases the setting time and this trend continues with an increasing amount of GO. The results of the mechanical evaluation showed that increasing the GO by up to 2% increased the mechanical properties and more than that decreased the mechanical properties. (C) 2020 SECV. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U.

Automated summary

The addition of graphene enhances the mechanical and biological properties of calcium phosphates. This study investigates the nucleation and growth mechanism of brushite crystals on graphene sheets. The results show that brushite crystals can grow on specific crystal planes with the presence of graphene, forming plate-shaped particles. Moreover, increasing the graphene content can shorten the setting time and improve the mechanical properties of the material.