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Bio-inspired citrate-hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles doped with zinc ions were prepared from mussel shells via a rapid method of ultrasonication and microwave irradiation. It was found that zinc ions can interact with citrate ions in the crystallization process of HAP. The growth of nanocrystals in citrate solution was slower than that in HCl solution. The addition of zinc ions reduced the residue of citrate in the products and increased the crystallinity of HAP. Furthermore, mineral platelets with the length of 29 ± 7 nm and the thickness of 3–5 nm were obtained for Zn/(Zn+Ca) = 5 mol%, which displayed similar morphology with HAP platelets in bone. Moreover, the obtained HAP nanoparticles are promising for use as bone graft materials in biomedical applications.

In this study, a biomimetic method was used to prepare hydroxyapatite (HAP) and zinc substituted HAP (ZnHAP) nanoparticles, in which silk fibroin was used as template. The morphology of HAP is rod-like, while ZnHAP changes to wrinkled sheets. HAP and ZnHAP nanoparticles were used to coat titanium by EPD with additional chitosan and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Phase composition, morphology and structure were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the composite coatings containing HAP and ZnHAP had homogeneous morphology and good apatite formation ability. The ZnHAP composite coating possessed class 5B adhesive strength using tape test. Furthermore, the ZnHAP composite coating had better corrosion resistance compared to the HAP composite coatings.