The maturation of crystalline calcium phosphates in aqueous suspensions at physiologic pH

Summary

The maturation of calcium phosphate crystals formed by the conversion of spontaneously precipitated amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) was studied in aqueous media at temperatures ranging from 20° to 37°. Reaction pH was kept at 7.4 with either Hepes buffer or by the pH-stat addition of base. Reaction kinetics were followed by monitoring solution calcium and total phosphate, and, in the pH-stat controlled reaction, by recording the amount of KOH needed to maintain pH. Reaction products were examined chemically and by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microcopy. The first crystals to form deviated markedly from apatite in morphology, composition, structure, and solubility. They were extremely thin and flaky in appearance, had a low Ca/P molar ratio (1.4), contained an appreciable amount of acid phosphate (16%), and had an exceptionally largea-axis (10.5 Å vs. 9.4 Å for apatite). With maturation, the crystals became thicker but smaller in lateral dimensions, more apatitelike in structure and composition, and less soluble. However, this ripening of the crystals was accompanied by unusual inflections in the solution Ca and total PO₄ curves, and, in the case of the pH-stat experiments, in the OH consumption profiles as well. These anomalous post-ACP solution changes suggest that a phase change had taken place during crystal maturation. Although the observed structural and compositional changes are not inconsistent with the perfection of an initially defective apatite, the changes in crystal morphology and the anomalous behavior of the reaction solution may more accurately reflect a conversion of the ACP first into an OCP-like crystalline phase which subsequently hydrolyzes into apatite.