Utilization of snail shells to synthesise hydroxyapatite nanorods for orthopedic applications

摘要

Snail shells are plentiful in nature and consist of mainly CaCO3. Here they have been effectively utilized to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HA) nanorods by a facile and rapid microwave irradiation method with the help of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a chelating agent. The conversion of snail shells into HA occurs via the formation of a Ca-EDTA complex which subsequently reacted with phosphate at pH approximate to 10 under microwave irradiation. The obtained product consists of B-type carbonated HA nanorods and can be a potential candidate for biomedical applications.