Impurity-free amorphous calcium carbonate, a preferential material for pharmaceutic and medical applications

Abstract

Biomedical applications of calcium carbonate minerals have been receiving an increasing amount of attention. With a simple chemical composition, low production cost, and ease to produce in large quantities, this non-toxic (bio)mineral has been used preferentially in the pharmaceutical industry as a diluent, bulking or coating agent. Recently, novel products have been developed and amorphous calcium carbonate was successfully used as a hybrid carrier for drugs, proteins and genes. It is obvious that any impurities might have adverse effects in any of the aforementioned applications. However, the synthesis of impurity-free amorphous calcium carbonate often proves to be challenging due to its instability and rapid transformation to crystalline phases. Herein, we describe a novel, simple and scalable protocol for the synthesis of such impurity-free amorphous calcium carbonate nanoparticles that is potentially invaluable for critical health applications, improving the applicability of amorphous calcium carbonates in pharmaceutical and medical domains.