Abstract
The studies on hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles have prompted prospects for superior biomaterials in orthopedics and dentistry. In this work, one-pot ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of magnetic HAp nanoparticles was carried out using a mussel shell calcium source by incorporating Fe2+/Fe3+ ions during Ca-citrate complex formation. Characterization of prepared specimens revealed that Fe2+/Fe3+ ions integration at low concentrations (0.01:0.02 ratio) does not affect the phase purity of HAp nanoparticles while at high concentrations (0.1:0.2 ratio) produced HAp/Fe3O4 nanocomposite. The developed HAp/Fe3O4 nanocomposite was composed of spherical Fe3O4 nanoparticles (10 nm size) and rod-like HAp nanoparticles (5–10 nm width and 20–30 nm length), and it revealed soft ferromagnetic properties with coercivity (Hc) and saturation magnetization (Ms) values of 750 G and 7.05 emu/g, respectively. Furthermore, the developed HAp/Fe3O4 nanocomposite exhibited good bone-forming ability in SBF and accomplished hyperthermia temperature within 8 min at 400 A applied current. Hence, it can be a potential bone repair material with magnetic induction heating ability. Also, this study utilized mussel shell calcium precursor which is a cost-effective and ecologically friendly method.