Akermanite Nanoparticles (AMN) as a novel bio-ceramic nano powder by sol-gel method: synthesis and characterization

Natural Akermanite (NAM) has been successfully prepared by a modified sol-gel method. Optimization in calcination temperature and mechanical ball milling resulted in a pure and nano-sized powder which characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy (FT–IR). Calcium nitrate, magnesium nitrate, Tetra Ethil Ortho Silicate (TEOS) and all other solvent and chemicals were analytical grade from Sigma Chemical (Tc. Litch, MO, USA). A magnesia mechanical ball mill (Jaha science, Ben, Germany) has been used to ensure the smallest particle sizes of the ceramic powder. The morphology of (AM) nanoparticles was examined by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM, Zaies JSM-8500, Switzerland). In this research, pure natural Akermanite (PNAM) powders were successfully obtained via a simple sol-gel method followed by calcination at 1250°C. Mechanical grinding in a ceramic ball mill for 7 hours resulted in (AM) nanoparticles in the range of about 32-55 nm. Our study suggests that nano akermanite (NAM) might be a potential candidate by itself as a nano bio-ceramic filling powder or in combination with other biomaterials as a composite scaffold in bone tissue regeneration.