title: Collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials with desired ceramic properties.
abstract: Our purpose was to obtain and characterize some collagen/hydroxyapatite (COLL/HA) hybrid composite materials with desired ceramic properties. The ceramic properties of these materials were achieved by combining two drying methods: controlled air drying at 30°C followed by freeze-drying. Through the function of the air drying times, the materials morphology varies from porous materials (when the materials are freeze-dried) up to dense materials (when the materials are air-dried), while the combined drying allows us to obtain an intermediary morphology. The composite materials intended to be used as bone grafts and in a drug delivery system were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and also by determining the ceramic properties by using the Arthur method. The ceramic properties of these COLL/HA composite materials vary in large range, for instance the density of the materials varies from 0.06 up to 1.5 g/cm(3) while the porosity varies from 96.5% down to 27.5%.
authors.affiliation: POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Material Science, 1-7 Polizu Str., Bucharest, Romania.
authors.forename: Ecaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Andronescu
authors.forename: Georgeta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Voicu
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ficai
authors.forename: Ioana Anita
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mohora
authors.forename: Roxana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trusca
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ficai
mesh_terms: D002516:Ceramics / Q000737:chemistry*; D003094:Collagen / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D003764:Dental Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D017886:Durapatite / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D005612:Freeze Drying; D008420:Manufactured Materials; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D019265:Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D003764:Dental Materials; D003094:Collagen; D017886:Durapatite