Abstract
Bidirectional diffusion of the Ca and PO~4~ solutions into the fibrin gel was performed at various pH conditions and fluoride concentrations to generate organic/inorganic composite materials mimicking biomineralization. The minerals produced in this system had a higher crystallinity than those generated by the solution mineralization system. The minerals generated in fibrin gel varied depending on the pH conditions as follows: Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD) in the noncontrolled pH solution, the DCPD and octacalcium phosphate (OCP) mixture at pH 7.4, and the OCP and hydroxyapatite (HAp) mixture at pH 9.0. When fluoride ions were added in the range of 2–500 ppm, the minerals produced at pH 7.4 altered from OCP/HAp to HAp/fluorapatite (FAp). In addition, the crystallinity of the obtained minerals increased with an increase in fluoride ion concentration, and the solubility was inversely correlated to crystallinity. In conclusion, we established a novel fabrication method for synthesizing organic/inorganic composite materials composed of fibrin and calcium phosphate and revealed that the characteristics of the minerals in the synthesized material can be controlled by the fabrication condition. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2008