Investigations on the crystallisation and effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on helical hydroxyapatite

Abstract

Biomineralization is the study of biologically produced materials, such as shells, bone and teeth, and the processes that lead to the formation of hierarchically structured organic-inorganic composites. Crystal plays a major role in many aspects of living beings. The present investigation aims at low temperature synthesis of helical ribbon at physiological conditions. It further aims to study the effect of swift heavy ion (SHI) irradiation on HAp. The thesis consists of two main divisions. The first part deals with the crystallization and characterization of CaP and the effect of strontium on the mineralization of helical HAp. The second part deals with the effect of SHI irradiation on CaP based bioceramic. The effect of various factors such as pH, temperature, specific gravity of the gel and the geometry of the reactant container on the formation of helical ribbon are also studied. The samples have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Elemental analysis, particularly Ca and P was carried out by an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDX) which was directly connected to SEM. The in vitro bioactivity test of the samples was performed in simulated body fluid (SBF) with pH 7.4. The irradiated samples were characterized using glancing angle X-ray diffraction (GXRD), SEM and photoluminescence (PL) studies. Sr-HAp crystals were irradiated with Si5+ ions (60 MeV) with various fluences from 1x1011 to 1x1013 ions/cm2. Phase analysis of the pristine and irradiated samples was performed by GXRD studies. The surface morphology of the samples was examined using SEM. In vitro bioactivity and antibacterial activity of the samples were presented. The results of the investigations have been published in International journals and presented in several National/International conferences. newline newline newline