"Fabrication of arbitrarily shaped carbonate apatite foam based on the interlocking process of dicalcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate".

Carbonate apatite (CO3Ap) foam with an interconnected porous structure is highly attractive as a scaffold for bone replacement. In this study, arbitrarily shaped CO3Ap foam was formed from α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) foam granules via a two-step process involving treatment with acidic calcium phosphate solution followed by hydrothermal treatment with NaHCO3. The treatment with acidic calcium phosphate solution, which is key to fabricating arbitrarily shaped CO3Ap foam, enables dicalcium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) crystals to form on the α-TCP foam granules. The generated DCPD crystals cause the α-TCP granules to interlock with each other, inducing an α-TCP/DCPD foam. The interlocking structure containing DCPD crystals can survive hydrothermal treatment with NaHCO3. The arbitrarily shaped CO3Ap foam was fabricated from the α-TCP/DCPD foam via hydrothermal treatment at 200 °C for 24 h in the presence of a large amount of NaHCO3.