Low temperature fabrication of spherical brushite granules by cement paste emulsion.
Secondary protonated calcium phosphates such as brushite (CaHPO(4)·2H(2)O) or monetite (CaHPO(4)) have a higher resorption potential in bone defects than sintered ceramics, e.g. tricalcium phosphate or hydroxyapatite. However, processing of these phosphates to monolithic blocks or granules is not possible by sintering due to thermal decomposition of protonated phosphates at higher temperatures. In this study a low temperature technique for the preparation of spherical brushite granules in a cement setting reaction is presented. These granules were synthesized by dispersing a calcium phosphate cement paste composed of β-tricalcium phosphate and monocalcium phosphate together with a surfactant to an oil/water emulsion. The reaction products were characterized regarding their size distribution, morphology, and phase composition. Clinically relevant granule sizes ranging from 200 μm to 1 mm were obtained, whereas generally smaller granules were received with higher oil viscosity, increasing temperature or higher powder to liquid ratios of the cement paste. The hardened granules were microporous with a specific surface area of 0.7 m(2)/g and consisted of plate-like brushite (>95 % according to XRD) crystals of 0.5-7 μm size. Furthermore it was shown that the granules may be also used for drug delivery applications. This was demonstrated by adsorption of vancomycin from an aqueous solution, where a load of 1.45-1.88 mg drug per g granules and an almost complete release within 2 h was obtained.
Department for Functional Materials in Medicine and Dentistry, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. claus.moseke@fmz.uni-wuerzburg.de
Claus
C
Moseke
Christoph
C
Bayer
Elke
E
Vorndran
Jake E
JE
Barralet
Jürgen
J
Groll
Uwe
U
Gbureck
D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004655:Emulsions; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry
D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D004655:Emulsions; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C494366:calcium phosphate, dibasic, dihydrate