Nanostructured Materials of Calcium Phosphates and Calcium Silicates: Synthesis, Properties and Applications

Calcium phosphates are a family of compounds with different chemical compositions, structures and properties containing calcium ions and functional groups of orthophosphate ( ), metaphosphate ( ) or pyrophosphate ( ) and sometimes hydrogen or hydroxide ions. Calcium phosphates can be widely found in nature as well as in hard tissues (bone and tooth) of the vertebrate. Owing to similar chemical composition and structure to the main inorganic constituents of bone and tooth, calcium phosphate‐based materials are promising biomaterials with high biocompatibility, and have been investigated for applications in various biomedical areas. Calcium silicate‐based materials have attracted much attention on their potential applications in various biomedical fields such as bone defect repair and drug delivery. In recent years, this research group has been focusing on the research in this exciting and rapidly evolving research field, and has published many papers. This article will provide a brief review on our main research work on the synthesis, characterization, properties and applications of nanostructured materials of calcium phosphates and calcium silicates. Finally, future perspectives and challenges for the research and applications of nanostructured materials of calcium phosphates and calcium silicates are discussed.