BBT researchers obtain a project to study hydroxyapatite nanofibers at the ALBA synchrotron

Three researchers from the BioFlex project: From 1D to 3D flexible hydroxyapatite ceramics for biomedical applications, funded by the AEI, spent the second week of July at the  ALBA Syncrotron to study hydroxyapatite (HA) nanofibers, as part of the beamtime 2025-II call. Specifically, one of the project's co-PIs, Dr. Montserrat Espanyol, and two PhD students, Raúl Agut and Fatemeh Tabatabei, who holds an FPI Grant associated with the BioFlex project (PID2022-142395OB-I00), traveled to Cerdanyola del Vallès.

This work addresses the inherent fragility of HA ceramics using nanofibers to create flexible 3D structures for bone regeneration. Using the techniques of "Small-angle/Wide-angle X-ray scattering" (SAXS/WAXS) at the BL11-NCD-SWEET beamline, the nanometric organization of the fibers was analyzed, including their dimension and orientation.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the self-assembly mechanisms to optimize the design of future implants with controlled mechanical properties.