Abstract
The mineral constituent of bone tissue is a carbonate‐substituted apatite (CHA). The thermal stability of the CHA has been revealed to depend on the substitution type and degree, although relatively little is known about this behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the carbonate loss from synthetic CHAs in equilibrium conditions in a wide temperature range. An approach based on FTIR spectroscopy of condensed gas phase was applied to evaluate the CO and CO~2~ release with increasing temperature. Four different CHAs were studied, which were prepared by either precipitation from solution or the solid‐state interaction. The samples differ from each other by the substitution degree. In one of the samples calcium was partially substituted by magnesium. Decomposition was shown to start at surprisingly low temperature, about 400°C, and the CO content increases monotonously with the increase of temperature. The CO~2~ content goes through a maximum due to its decomposition into carbon monoxide and oxygen, the temperature of this maximum being strongly dependent on the chemical synthesis route. Therefore, control of the sintering atmosphere with respect to the CO~2~/CO ratio is needed when preparing the carbonated apatite bioceramics. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 71B: 441–447, 2004