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Nitrogen-Containing Species in the Structure of the Synthesized Hydroxyapatite

Synthesized by the wet chemical precipitation technique hydroxyapatite powders (HAp) with the sizes of the crystallites of (20-50) nm and 1000 nm were analyzed by different analytical methods. By means of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) it is shown that during the synthesis process nitrate anions from the reagents (by-products) could incorporate into the HAp structure. The concentration of the stable NO32- radicals detected after X-ray irradiation of the product at room temperature does not decrease even after annealing up to 400 oC. The relaxation times and EPR parameters of the axially symmetric NO32- paramagnetic centers are measured with high accuracy. Increased sensitivity and resolution of high-frequency EPR (95 GHz) allows to reveal additional paramagnetic centre(s) which origin is discussed. Analyses of electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) spectra from 1H and 31P nuclei and ab-initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations allow suggesting that the paramagnetic centers and nitrate anions as the precursors of NO32- radicals preferably occupy PO43- site in the HAp structure.