Synthesis and characterization of Zn-based Co-doped hydroxyapatites

In this work, zinc (Zn)-based cobalt (Co)-doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) samples were synthesized by wet chemical method. The synthesis was carried out in five different compositions as 0.15Zn-HAp, 0.15Co-0.15Zn-HAp, 0.30Co-0.15Zn-HAp, 0.45Co-0.15Zn-HAp and 0.60Co-0.15Zn-HAp. Density of state (DOS) and band structure calculations of the obtained materials were systematically analyzed. It was found that the band gap values were between 4.6663 eV and 4.7159 eV, increasing and then slightly decreasing to 4.7082 eV. These results showed the effect of Zn and Co doping on the electronic structure of HAP. Changes in the LAC were also observed depending on the doping ratio. The characteristic properties of the synthesized materials such as chemical, thermal, surface morphology and cytotoxicity were investigated. In this context, XRD, FTIR and SEM/EDX analyses confirmed the presence of HAp structures. The results of DTA and TGA tests for thermal analysis showed that the samples were stable against temperature. Finally, cytotoxicity tests were performed using L-929 mouse fibroblast cells. The samples had over 81% cell viability, demonstrating that they are biocompatible and non-toxic. These results have important implications for the potential applications of these materials in various technological and biomedical fields.