Metastable states in calcium phosphate - aqueous phase equilibrations

A critical evaluation of the literature reveals that during equilibration of well crystallized hydroxyapatite in aqueous solutions metastable states can occur. They are characterized by a persistent supersaturation with respect to hydroxyapatite and a systematical dependence of the ion activity product of this compound on the solution composition. For products synthesized by thermal treatment it is known that they are transformed into oxyhydroxyapatite so that the theoretical solubility behaviour could be predicted from the extrapolated value of the free energy of oxyapatite at room temperature: the negative logarithm of the ionic product for hydroxyapatite should become close to that of oxyapatite during equilibration. The discrepancy with experimental data is probably due to the formation of thin layers seeming dicalcium phosphate dihydrate, octocalcium phosphate or defective hydroxyapatite as coatings on the apatite crystals. This is derived from the apparent Ca/P ratio of the solubility controlling phase. According to chemical potential plots this apparent Ca/P ratio can have values close to 1, 1.33, 1.50 or 1.67. The aqueous solutions are clearly undersaturated with respect to the more acidic calcium phosphates so that the coatings must deviate from the compositions of these compounds in their pure state. The formation of these metastable states during equilibration of oxyhydroxyapatites is compared with others occuring during precipitation and crystal growth of calcium phosphates. A model is proposed which explains the observations qualitatively.