| This review highlights the most common synthesis methods used in the preparation of mesoporous hydroxyapatite (HA); specifically using surfactants as a pore template. Basically, nanoporous hydroxyapatite is synthesized using wet precipitation methods that consist of chemical precipitation, hydrothermal, and emulsion. Each of these techniques uses either ionic or non-ionic surfactants as structure directing agents. Most studies initially utilize ionic surfactants e.g., CTAB during the synthesis process. However, due to a demand for more consistent pore sizes and higher surface areas, non-ionic surfactants e.g., F127 and P123 became more commonly used as the structure directing agent. Drug loading and release characteristics of nanoporous HA against different types of drugs, such as antibiotics and anti-cancer, are discussed in the second part of this report. Finally, a brief conclusion will describe the limitations of current techniques, and comment on the main aspects that need to be considered in the future for further improvements and better performances. |
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