Silicon-contained calcium phosphates catch the attention of researchers and industrial manufacturers of bone grafts. Precipitation is the standard preparation technique that occurs by mixing of calcium- and phosphate-containing solutions at pH ~ 10 in presence of a silica, followed by aging, filtration, washing off, drying and sintering at 900 - 1200 °C. Here we present a simplified preparation technique of silicon-contained calcium phosphates.

Chemically pure Ca(NO₃)₂·4H₂O, NH₄H₂PO₄, ammonium hydroxide (25% aqueous solution), and a very fine dry powder of silica-gel were used as initial chemicals. The chemicals were mixed and the mixture was placed into a alumina crucible. A small amount of ammonium hydroxide was added into the crucible. The crucible was placed into a furnace and the suspension was sintered at 1000 °C for 4 hours (ramp rate 3°C/min), followed by cooling down to ambient temperature. The resulting powder was analyzed by SEM, XRD, IR-spectroscopy and by chemical analysis

The experimental results revealed that depending on the initially selected Ca/P and Si/P molar ratios, the final compounds might have either the structure of a silicon-substituted hydroxyapatite or a silicon-stabilized mixture of α- and β-tricalcium phosphates. Therefore, silicon-contained calcium phosphates might be easily prepared by a single stage which makes unnecessary the stages of aging, filtration, washing and drying. Presumably, the biological behavior of the simplify-prepared silicon-containing calcium phosphates should not be very different from those prepared using the routine way. We believe that this simplified preparation technique will reduce the production costs and make artificial bone grafts more affordable to people.

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