Synthesis and characterization of ceramic - polymer composites containing bioactive synthetic hydroxyapatite for biomedical applications

Presented research involved preparation of hydroxyapatite and synthesis of composites based on gelatin, al-bumin and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) modified with the obtained compound. Hydroxyapatite was attained as aproduct of two-stage processing of pig bones. Applied procedure involved hydrolysis of the raw material in acidicenvironment and double calcination. Molar ratio Ca/P of hydroxyapatite has been determined and its chemicalstructure has been characterized using X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy. Ratio Ca/P calculated on thebasis of conducted research was 1.50 ± 0.05. Thus prepared material met the ISO requirements, which assumethat the Ca/P ratio should be in the range 1.5–2.0, which qualifies the material for further studies. Next, series ofpolymer matrix on the basis of gelatin, albumin and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) has been synthesized andsubjected to some analyzes. On the basis of the conducted studies, matrixes with the most favorable features suchas desirable strength,flexibility and crosslinking degree were modified with previously prepared hydroxyapatite.Surface morphology and elemental composition of the composites have been analyzed using SEM-EDS method.Additionally, sorption capacity of modified composites and their behavior in simulated bodyfluids have beendetermined. Based on the conducted research it can be concluded that pig bones represent a good material forpreparation of hydroxyapatite. Furthermore, composites based on proteins of natural origin modified with at-tained hydroxyapatite constitute a promising material that can be used for biomedical purposes.