Nanostructured biological hydroxyapatite from Tilapia bone: A pathway to control crystallite size and crystallinity

Abstract Hydroxyapatite is the main mineral component of the bone and the main responsible for their hardness and mechanical strength. It shows enormous scientific and technological value as it presents a potential for application in medical purposes and pharmaceutical, chemical, and environmental remedy industries. Many authors have demonstrated the possibility of hydroxyapatite synthesis from different sources and synthesis methodologies. However, studies which lead to an effectively controlled crystallite size and crystallinity are still scarce. Our study aims to evaluate the effects of heat treatment temperature and high energy milling time on obtaining nanometric hydroxyapatite from a natural source. The characterization has been performed by employing thermal, chemical, structural, morphological, and surface area analysis. It has been possible to verify only hydroxyapatite formation. In the milled samples, it's been possible to verify a reduction in the crystallite size and crystallinity. The surface area increased from 0.07 to 41.37 m2/g, but excessive milling times caused agglomeration and reduced the surface area. The results showed that it is possible to synthetize nanostructured hydroxyapatite (9,8–95 nm) with crystallinity ranging from 3 to 99% from Tilapia bones. ANOVA has validated the results. The produced materials present an excellent potential for application in the biomedical or adsorption substances area.