Chemical diversity of apatites

C. Rey (1) , C. Combes (1) , C. Drouet (1) , H. Sfihi (2)

1 CIRIMAT - Centre interuniversitaire de recherche et d'ingenierie des matériaux
2 SIEN - Systèmes interfaciaux à l'echelle nanometrique

Apatites can accommodate a large no. of vacancies and afford multiple ionic substitutions detg. their reactivity and biol. properties. Unlike other biominerals they offer a unique adaptability to various biol. functions. The diversity of apatites is essentially related to their structure and to their mode of formation. Special charge compensation mechanisms allow mol. insertions and ion substitutions and det. to some extent their soly. behavior. Apatite formation at physiol. pH involves a structured surface hydrated layer nourishing the development of apatite domains. This surface layer contains relatively mobile and exchangeable ions, and is mainly responsible for the surface properties of apatite crystals from a chem. (dissoln. properties, ion exchange ability, ion insertions, mol. adsorption and insertions) and a phys. (surface charge, interfacial energy) point of view. These characteristics are used by living organisms and can also be exploited in material science.

Domaines: Autre

C. Rey, C. Combes, C. Drouet, H. Sfihi. Chemical diversity of apatites. Advances in Science and Technology, 2006, 49, pp.27-36. ⟨hal-00160939⟩