Abstract
The aim of this work is to obtain and characterize some collagen/hydroxyapatite composite materials obtained by collagen matrix immersion in SBF, for different immersion times. The obtained composite materials were characterize by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy detector (EDS) and complex thermal analysis. The main differences between the composites obtained by different immersion times can be visualized by SEM images. The increasing immersion time lead to a more compact composite material, with lower porosity as exhibited in the recorded SEM images. On the other hand, not only the morphology is changed but also the composition of the composites. At high immersion time, onto the composite materials, sodium chloride (NaCl) crystals can be observed. The presence of NaCl can be easily identified by XRD and, based on the relative characteristic peaks intensity can be quantified. Keywords: SBF immersion, collagen matrix mineralization, morphological changes versus immersion time