Abstract
Hydroxyapatites were prepared in the presence of different amounts of phosphonoformic acid (PFA) via the hydrothermal method. The obtained powders were characterized through chemical analysis, XRD, IR, 31P MAS-NMR, TEM, and TG-TDA. The XRD showed that the PFA did not affect the apatite composition. Indeed, only a reduction of the crystallite size was noted. After grafting of PFA, the IR spectroscopy revealed the appearance of new bands belonging to HPO42− and carboxylate groups of the apatite and organic moiety, respectively. Moreover, the 31P MAS-NMR spectra exhibited a peak with a low intensity assigned to the terminal phosphonate group of the organic moiety in addition to that of the apatite. Based on these results, a reaction mechanism involving the surface hydroxyl groups (triple bond; length of mdashCasingle bondOH) of the apatite and the carboxyl group of the acid was proposed.