Effect of fuel on biomineralization of merwinite

Abstract Merwinite undrapes proficient characters like profound mechanical strength, cytocompatibility, cell proliferation and osteointegration. Merwinite was prepared through solution combustion technique by using glycine, urea and citric acid as fuels. Pure phases of merwinite were achieved at 900 °C in which citric acid resulted in 23–28 nm crystals whereas glycine and urea produced particles in the range of 31–34 nm and 40–45 nm respectively when characterized by powder X-ray diffraction. Invitro biomineralization of scaffolds were investigated in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 9 days. The XRD pattern recorded after bioactivity studies demonstrated that merwinite obtained by using citric acid as a fuel shows complete coverage of the surface due to the deposition of hydroxyapatite whereas the merwinite prepared by using glycine and urea as a fuel shows lesser extent of hydroxyapatite deposition. SEM images of hydroxyapatite nucleated on the merwinite prepared using citric acid and urea as a fuel shows smaller particle size when compared to glycine as a fuel. Citric acid emerges out as a better fuel among the three fuels as the product formed is found to have better bioactivity.