Processing and Characterization of Cockle Shell Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) Bioceramic for Potential Application in Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Cockle shell CaCO3 bioceramic is potential for multiple tissue engineering applications. The powder was produced by cleansing the cockle shells to remove all the dirt from the shell’s surface followed by crushing them into CaCO3 powder. The powder was characterized using X–Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analyser (EDXA) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR). Aragonite phase was observed in cockle shell CaCO3 powder and calcite phase was observed in commercial CaCO3 by XRD. SEM analysis revealed the structure of cockle shell CaCO3 powder to be rod-like aragonite crystals whereas commercial CaCO3 had cube-like calcite crystals. The EDX outcomes showed that the cockle shell CaCO3 powder had more carbon and oxygen as compared to commercial CaCO3. FT-IR results also attested aragonite phase in cockle shell CaCO3 powder and it also showed the existence of carbonate groups in cockle shell CaCO3 powder as well as commercial CaCO3 powder.