Obtaining hydroxyapatite from the exoskeleton and spines of the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus

Abstract We present a simple, quick, and viable way to produce hydroxyapatite ( HA ) from a waste by‐product of the sea food industry, this was achieved by submitting the exoskeleton of the purple sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus through a chemical reaction with H ₃ PO ₄ at 3 different times (3, 18, and 36 hours) with constant stirring at 35‐40°C. The characterization of the materials was made by several techniques ( FTIR , XRD , SEM ‐ EDS , and TEM ).The FTIR results confirmed the presence of the HA characteristic functional groups OH , PO ₄ , and CO ₃ , the XRD characterization showed that the synthesis of calcium phosphates such as brushite and HA was achieved by confirming the presence of its characteristic peaks, also the EDS analysis confirmed the expected HA Ca/P atomic ratio of 1.67. This work shows that we can take advantage from raw materials derived from processing sea food by giving it an added value for the biomedical industry.