Review
Copyright ©2012 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Feb 26, 2012; 2(1): 1-17
Published online Feb 26, 2012. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v2.i1.1
Dissolution mechanism of calcium apatites in acids: A review of literature
Sergey V Dorozhkin
Sergey V Dorozhkin, Kudrinskaja sq. 1-155, Moscow 123242, Russia
Author contributions: Dorozhkin SV solely contributed to this paper.
Correspondence to: Sergey V Dorozhkin, PhD, Kudrinskaja sq. 1-155, Moscow 123242, Russia. sedorozhkin@yandex.ru
Telephone: +7-499-255-4460
Received: September 23, 2011
Revised: February 17, 2012
Accepted: February 21, 2012
Published online: February 26, 2012
Abstract

Eight dissolution models of calcium apatites (both fluorapatite and hydroxyapatite) in acids were drawn from the published literature, analyzed and discussed. Major limitations and drawbacks of the models were conversed in details. The models were shown to deal with different aspects of apatite dissolution phenomenon and none of them was able to describe the dissolution process in general. Therefore, an attempt to combine the findings obtained by different researchers was performed which resulted in creation of the general description of apatite dissolution in acids. For this purpose, eight dissolution models were assumed to complement each other and provide the correct description of the specific aspects of apatite dissolution. The general description considers all possible dissolution stages involved and points out to some missing and unclear phenomena to be experimentally studied and verified in future. This creates a new methodological approach to investigate reaction mechanisms based on sets of affine data, obtained by various research groups under dissimilar experimental conditions.

Keywords: Calcium orthophosphates; Fluorapatite; Hydroxyapatite; Dissolution; Model; Mechanism