APPLICATION OF FT-IR MICROSPECTROSCOPY TO THE STUDY OF AN INJECTABLE COMPOSITE FOR BONE AND DENTAL SURGERY

Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) of high-viscosity grade is used as a ligand for a bioactive calcium phosphate ceramic (the filler) in a ready-to-use injectable sterilized biomaterial for bone and dental sur gery. Application of physico-chemical methods such as XPS, NMR, or Ram an spectroscopy encounters difficulties when used to study such a mult iphased material. This paper reports on the application of FT-IX micro spectroscopy (FT-IRM) for the investigation of inorganic and organic p hases of the rough composite and separated phases obtained by mechanic al or chemical extraction methods. A comparison of FT-IRM with the con ventional KBr pellet method was made and indicates that the macro and micro FT-IR methods are complementary: the former revealed new chemica l groups not visualized with the KBr method whereas the latter detecte d the major compound of the blend. FT-IR microspectroscopy was reveale d to be a powerful method of analysis that is complementary to other e xisting spectroscopic methods. Moreover, it is expected to be a useful tool in the study of biomaterials in biological samples. (C) 1998 Joh n Wiley & Sons, Inc.