Abstract

Facile Fabrication of Porous Hydroxyapatite Monoliths: Their Enhanced Bioactivity and Adsorption Capability for Heavy Metal Ions

Xiao-Hui Guo, Wa-Nv Wang, Meng-Jiao Wang, Chao-Chao Mao, Ji Zhang, Fan-Li Meng and Wei-Wei Xu

Porous Hydroxyapatite (HAP) monoliths with hierarchically adjustable surface textures have been successfully prepared by pouring the HAP precursors into the gap among the preorganized poly (styrene-methyl methacrylate– acrylic acid) (P (St-MMA-AA)) colloidal sphere arrays and followed by a simple calcinations processes. Herein, the as-obtained HAP monoliths can undergo distinct morphologies evolution by gradually altering the features of polymeric colloidal spheres. Typically, when only 800 μl colloidal spheres were used as templates, a kind of specific HAP monolith with hierarchical porous structural feature could be produced. They display higher specific surface area of ~ 49.7 m 2 .g - 1 , in which microporous channel was penetrated into the macroporous framework. Furthermore, we performed and evaluated the bioactivity for the prepared HAP monoliths in simulated body fluid (SBF) conditions, indicating the greatly enhanced in vitro bioactivity of the HAP monoliths. This should be attributed to the hierarchically porous features of HAP monoliths. More interestingly, HAP monoliths with specific porous can possess specific capability for removing toxic heavy metal ions such as Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ in aqueous solution. Therefore, it was indicated that the obtained HAP monoliths can be employed as a highly effective adsorbent for the removal of pollutants in wastewater treatment.