Abstract

• Hydroxyapatite (HAp) materials are very popular for bone restoration. The application of pure hydroxyapatite are restricted to non load-bearing implants due to the poor mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite. To improve the mechanical properties of hydroxyapatite prepared from cow bone, incorporation of magnesium oxide was conducted in this research. Hydroxyapatite-Magnesium oxide nanocomposites (5 % and 10 %) were prepared at 1000 .C and 1100 .C. Crystal structures of all HAp-MgO nanocomposites and HAp were indexed as hexagonal. FT IR spectral data revealed the characteristic peaks of both HAp and MgO in the prepared nanocomposites. HAp-10 % MgO nanocomposites calcined at 1100 .C was found to have the highest hardness value of 53 N. HAp and HAp-MgO nanocomposites prepared at 1000 .C and 1100 .C showed no cytotoxic effect according to brine shrimp lethality bioassay. In vitro protein adsorption test and in vitro hemolysis test indicated that the prepared HAp and HAp-MgO nanocomposites were biocompatible. Orthopaedic application of HAp and HAp-MgO nanocomposites were conducted by in vivo study using Wistar rats. X-ray diagnosis showed that HAp-MgO nanocomposites were suitable for treatment of bone defect. In vitro study for repairing the non-living broken bones by HAp-MgO nanocomposites was also conducted using chicken femur bone and it was found that the composites could be used as bioglue.