Investigations on the formation mechanism of hydroxyapatite synthesized by the solvothermal method

In this paper, uniform hydroxyapatite (HA) nanowires of width 60 nm and length 1 µm are synthesized by solvothermal synthesis. The formation process of the nanowires has been elaborated from the structure within the reverse micelles by the time-resolved fluorescence quenching technique. The results reveal that the formation of amorphous nuclear/surfactant complex and the electrostatic field within the reverse micelles maintain the unidirectional, irreversible fusion of reverse micelles, leading to the growth of nanowires in one direction. In the solvothermal synthesis, the pressure generated in the autoclave is estimated. The results suggest that the products are prepared under stable conditions without intense shearing stress where it is favourable for the formation of long and uniform HA nanowires.