Morphologically controlled synthesis of hydroxyapatite with partial substitution of fluorine

Morphologies of hydroxyapatite with partial substitution of fluorine (FHAp) have been finely modulated from prickly spheres, whisk brooms, flowers, dandelions, and nanofibers to ultralong nanoribbons through altering the reaction conditions and adding glutamic acid. X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and so forth were performed for characterizing the resultant powders and analyzing the growth process. Condition experiments were compared comprehensively and revealed that FHAp crystals with various morphologies were formed, generally, through a fractal growth process of double splitting.