Elaboration of apatitic nanostructured biomaterials

Hydroxyapatite is a bioactive biomaterial widely used for the repair and reconstruction of bone defects however its effectiveness is often limited by its low density. The present work is a new contribution to the study of compact nanostructured bioceramics which are considered to be easily implantable materials at the bone and dental level. Anisotropic hydroxyapatite nanoparticles were synthesized by forced hydrolysis in polyol medium in order to improve the mechanical characteristics of apatitic bioceramics. The obtained nanopowders were consolidated by the unconventional process such as spark plasma sintering (SPS) resulting in 3D nanostructured hydroxyapatite masses. The latter showed morphological performances similar to those used in the industry on the other hand they showed improved mechanical performances with a hardness up to 9 GPa.