Crystallisation of hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles on Si-Ca-Na-P bioglass after immersion in simulated body fluid. In this case, HAp has formed as a pear-shaped microcrystal (~5 microns high), which even appears to have a bite taken out of it. By comparison, a human hair is ~100 microns thick. The bioglass was made by our novel rapid (200 times faster) sol-gel process. HAp is the main component of human bone. This bioglass can be used in biomedicine to make scaffolds or bio-implants to replace/regenerate damaged bone.
(False colour, as this is an SEM image)
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Rob_Pullar&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" class="new" title="User:Rob Pullar (page does not exist)">Rob Pullar</a>
CC BY 4.0
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>