Effect of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) weight ratio on spray-dried apatite–PVA composites

Türkiye has the largest colemanite reserves in the world, mainly used in glass and boric acid production. To broaden the current applications of colemanite, it was previously transformed to apatite using a novel method by the same working group of the authors. Natural bone is an organic–inorganic composite where inorganic apatite crystals are accumulated on organic collagen fibers. With inspiration from nature, one further step was taken as an addition to the previous study: apatite, produced from colemanite, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were mixed at different weight ratios and then dried using a spray dryer to investigate the effect of PVA content on the composite structure and to see the effect of using a spray dryer on the morphology of the composites. The weight ratios of apatite–PVA were maintained as 3:7, 5:5 and 8:2. The samples in each step were analyzed using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. It was shown that spray-dried apatite–PVA composites were successfully synthesized and could be potential biomaterials. Using a spray dryer and the manipulation of the weight ratios of apatite–PVA were effective ways to tailor the particle size of the powder and the morphology of the particles, which could be beneficial for their biomedical usage.