Amorphous calcium phosphate, the lack of order is an abundance of possibilities

Lorenzo Degli Esposti; Michele Iafisco

doi:10.1016/j.bbiosy.2021.100037

Amorphous calcium phosphate, the lack of order is an abundance of possibilities

Biomater Biosyst. 2021 Dec 28:5:100037. doi: 10.1016/j.bbiosy.2021.100037. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Lorenzo Degli Esposti¹, Michele Iafisco¹

Affiliation

¹ Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, National Research Council, Via Granarolo 64, Faenza 48018, Italy.

Abstract

For almost three decades from its discovery, amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) was not considered a suitable biomaterial due to its structural instability. Thanks to its unique properties in respect to crystalline calcium phosphate phases, nowadays ACP is used in promising devices for hard tissue regeneration. Here we have highlighted the features of ACP that were harnessed to create excellent biomaterials for dental remineralization, self-setting bone cements, drug delivery, and coatings of prostheses. Its current limitations as well as future perspectives of development were concisely described. Despite more research works are needed, we envisage that the future of ACP is bright.

Keywords: ACP, Amorphous calcium phosphate; Amorphous calcium phosphates; Biomimetics; Bone cements; CPP, Casein phosphopeptide; CaP, Calcium phosphate; Coatings; Dental remineralization; Drug delivery.