Mechanochemical behavior of CaCO3–P2O5–CaF2 system to produce carbonated fluorapatite nanopowder

Abstract The influence of milling time on mechanochemical behavior of CaCO 3 –P 2 O 5 –CaF 2 system to produce carbonated fluorapatite nanopowder was studied. Results showed that the formation of n-CFAp was influenced noticeably by the milling time. At the beginning of milling (up to 30 min), CaF 2 and CaCO 3 were dominant phases, while P 2 O 5 disappeared entirely due to its very high hydrophilic nature. With increasing the milling time to 600 min, the progressive mechanochemical reaction was completed which resulted in the formation of nanosized B-type carbonated fluorapatite. According to the obtained data, crystallite size of the product decreased from 77±4 to 69±3 nm when the milling time increased from 300 to 600 min, respectively. Microscopic observations illustrated that the final product had a cluster-like structure which was composed of both the spheroidal and ellipsoidal particles with an average size of around 45 and 90 nm, respectively. The present findings suggest that the room-temperature solid-state reaction can lead to the formation of nanostructured carbonated fluorapatite which can be a promising candidate for using in biomedical applications.