Novel biomineralization for hydrogels: Electrophoresis approach accelerates hydroxyapatite formation in hydrogels

As a first step toward hydroxyapatite (HAp) formation in agarose hydrogels, we have tailored the internal chemistry using an electrophoresis approach. HAp was formed using aqueous solutions of calcium chloride and disodium hydrophosphate, which were set in a conventional agarose electrophoresis apparatus. Calcium and phosphate ions provided cations and anions, respectively, and were shown to migrate into the agarose hydrogel toward the corresponding electrode side. HAp was formed after colliding with each ion. The time needed to reach complete HAp formation was 30 min, and 130 ng of HAp was formed in 1 mg of agarose hydrogel when the equilibrium swelling state was reached. The electrophoresis approach accelerated the HAp formation, and the linear velocity of 1 mm/min was shown to be roughly 15 times larger than that of simple diffusion (0.06 mm/min).