As the important inorganic component of biological hard tissues, calcium phosphate materials have high biocompatibility, bioactivity and biodegradability. Therefore, they are widely investigated and used in various biomedical fields, such as bone and tooth repair and replacement, drug delivery, gene transfection and diagnostic imaging. The chemical composition, structure, crystallite size, morphology, and crystallinity of the synthetic calcium phosphate materials, which are strongly influenced by their preparation methods, play a decisive role in their applications. Therefore, to develop various synthetic methods for the desirable materials is important for their applications. This paper reviews recent research progress of our group in the preparation, characterization, properties and applications of calcium phosphate nanostructured materials, focusing on the preparation methods, including room-temperature synthesis, solvothermal/hydrothermal synthesis, microwave-assisted rapid synthesis, electrospinning, and phosphorus-containing biomolecules based synthesis, and their applications in drug delivery, protein adsorption and release, and bioimaging. The future research trends are also discussed.

calcium phosphate  /  hydroxyapatite  /  nanomaterials  /  drug delivery  /  biomedical application