Carbonated Hydroxyapatite: Materials, Synthesis, and Applications

This book introduces recent advances in understanding the crystal structure of carbonate hydroxylapatite (also known as bone mineral), which forms the hard tissue of bones and teeth. Bone mineral is the reservoir for carbon dioxide in the body and maintains the concentration of mineral ions in body fluids at homeostasis. The detailed structure of bone mineral has remained obscure more than 80 years after publication of the basic apatite structure, because of the nanoscale size and poor qual...