Surface modification of hydroxyapatite nanocrystals by grafting polymers containing phosphonic acid groups.

A novel approach for the surface modification of hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanocrystals is described by grafting polymerization of vinyl phosphonic acid (VPA) using a redox initiating system in an aqueous media. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and XRD analyses confirmed the modification reaction on HAp surfaces. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP MS) showed that the Ca/P molar ratio decreased from 1.67 to 1.36 with increasing the feed VPA amount. Zeta potentials of unmodified HAp and modified HAp in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solutions (pH 7.4, ionic strength = 10 mM) were negative and decreased with increasing the amount of grafted PVPA. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements and time-dependent phase monitoring indicated that the colloidal stability of modified HAp over unmodified HAp in water dramatically increased and tended to exist as single nanocrystals without aggregation.