The Influences of Sintering Process on the Characteristics of Corbiculacea (Etok) Shells Based Hydroxyapatite Powder

Abstract

Hydroxyapatite (HA) powders were prepared via chemical solution through aqueous solution of calcium hydroxide and phosphoric acid. The calcium precursor was extracted from the calcium carbonate of Corbiculacea shells while the phosphate precursor originated from the commercially available phosphoric acid. The final product of HA powders is then manipulated through the sintering process at 500°C while the other sample was used as it is. XRD result shows significant changes in its crystallinity, crystallite size and lattice parameters after the sintering process. By sintering the HA, the crystallite size and crystallinity were increases as much as 6.25% and 5.31% respectively. SEM on the other hand showed different morphology for both sintering and non-sintering HA powders. For the sintering HA, the grains size is higher which is 5.00μm compared to non-sintering HA which is 3.91μm due to the agglomeration.