X-ray diffraction as a promising tool to characterize bone nanocomposites

Abstract

To understand the characteristics of bone at the tissue level, the structure, organization and mechanical properties of the underlying levels down to the nanoscale as well as their mutual interactions need to be investigated. Such information would help understand changes in the bone properties including stiffness, strength and toughness and provide ways to assess the aged and diseased bones and the development of next generation of bio-inspired materials. X-ray diffraction techniques have gained increased interest in recent years as useful non-destructive tools for investigating the nanostructure of bone. This review provides an overview on the recent progress in this field and briefly introduces the related experimental approach. The application of x-ray diffraction to elucidating the structural and mechanical properties of mineral crystals in bone is reviewed in terms of characterization of in situ strain, residual stress-strain and crystal orientation.

Nanostructure and elastic modulus of single trabecula in bovine cancellous bone

“…In the present study, the c-axis orientation of HAp crystals was defined as the direction of the highest intensity of diffracted X-rays from the (002) plane and the degree of c-axis orientation of the crystals with respect to the trabecular axis was calculated from Eq. (1) using the XRD pattern of the (002) plane Tadano and Giri, 2011).…”

“…However, only a few 5/44 studies have performed mechanical tests of a single trabecula because the mechanical tests of such small specimens are challenging, as reviewed by Carretta et al (2013a) and Lucchinetti et al (2000). Furthermore, the nanostructural effects on the mechanical properties of a single trabecula have not been investigated and elucidated, although various studies have been conducted on multiscale mechanical characterization in the cortical bone (e.g., Barkaoui et al, 2014;Tadano and Giri, 2011;Feng and Jasiuk, 2011;Gibson et al, 2006;Hoc et al, 2006). Therefore, the present study focused on the mechanical properties of a single trabecula and on the nanostructural effects on its properties.…”

“…X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a promising tool for characterizing bone nanocomposites (Tadano and Giri, 2011). Using XRD techniques, it has been reported that on diaphyseal cortical bone, the c-axis of HAp crystals aligns along the bone axis, and that the degree of orientation is correlated with the elastic modulus in the bone axis .…”

Influence of osteon area fraction and degree of orientation of HAp crystals on mechanical properties in bovine femur

“…In this study, the degree of c-axis orientation of the crystals is defined as in Eq. (3) using the X-ray diffraction pattern of the (002) planes (Giri et al, 2009;Tadano and Giri, 2011).…”

“…6 / 33 (Fujisaki et al, 2006;Fujisaki and Tadano, 2007;Tadano et al, 2008;Giri et al, 2009;Tadano and Giri, 2011) and the presence of residual stresses in cortical bone measured from the crystal deformation (Yamada and Tadano, 2010;Yamada et al, 2011;Tadano and Giri, 2011). In these measurements, the influence of the microstructure on the macroscopic stress/strain estimation of cortical bone has not been discussed.…”