In Vitro Bioactivity Study of Calcium Aluminate/Calcium Phosphate

Abstract: The effect of hydroxyapatite (HA) addition on the in vitro bioactivity of calcium aluminate cement (CA) was studied. Nano-particles of pure single-phase calcium aluminate were prepared via solid state reaction at high temperature. An ultra-pure nano-sized hydroxyapatite prepared by the sol-gel method was used to formulate a composite of 1:1 CA:HA. In vitro bioactivity of CA and its composite was evaluated by soaking in stimulated body fluid (SBF). Physico-mechanical properties, pH and concentration of calcium and phosphorous ions were estimated. The structure of samples was investigated using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Antimicrobial activity of both materials formulated was studied. The results showed that the composite CA/HA has better mechanical and bio-compatibility properties when compared to the pure material. The antimicrobial activity showed that, both CA and CA/HA have a moderate antimicrobial effect on all the microorganisms tested; the inhibition zone range was 13.0-16.0 mm.