A reliable and efficient method for synthesis of hydroxyapatite-chitosan nanocomposite

Inorganic-organic nanocomposites have attracted increasing attention as promising material for medical applications [1]. Hydroxyapatite (HA) as the main inorganic constituent of bone is one of the most relevant inorganic phase of nanocomposites. Several studies have investigated the synthesis of hybrid HA/polymer materials. Among them, composite prepared from HA and chitosan (CS) has advantages due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability and bioactivity [2]. Although several methods including coprecipitation, sol–gel, hydrothermal and emulsion have been reported for the synthesis of HA-CS nanocomposite, still remains a great demand for the introduction of efficient, simple and practical method with controlled manufacturing conditions which enables an accurate control of nanocomposite properties such as size, geometry, morphology, homogeneity and surface area. Among the mentioned methods, coprecipitation is a simple, economical and industrially viable technique but the most common drawback of this technique is formation of agglomerated precipitate. To overcome the problem of agglomeration we have suggested a new combined sonochemical-coprecipitation method for synthesis of HA-CS nanocomposite since the ultrasound irradiation has proven to be a beneficial technique to prevent agglomeration arises from acoustic cavitation phenomenon [3]. In this work, we have successfully synthesized HA-CS nanocomposite by sonochemical-coprecipitation method under controlled conditions. The prepared HA-CS nanocomposite was characterized by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the particle size analysis. The characterization results confirmed that this technique leads to a more reliable production of HA-CS nanocomposite with more uniform particle size and higher morphological homogeneity.