Abstract
"Calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)(2)]" is a medicament frequently used for antimicrobial purposes in endodontic procedures, or it is used as a toxic-waste adsorbent in industry. Ca(OH)(2) particles produced through conventional methods are size untunable and have a wide size distribution and polygonal shape. In this paper, a novel and facile approach involving template-mediated synthesis and two-step ion exchange is proposed for uniform size Ca(OH)(2) composite particles generation. "Sodium-alginate (Na-alginate)" was used as a precursor, and monodisperse Na-alginate emulsions were formed through needle droplet or droplet microfluidic technology. After the first ion exchange step with the Ca(2+) ions, "calcium-alginate (Ca-alginate)" particles were obtained. The Ca-alginate particles were intermediate reaction products and were designed to be the templates for ensuring the spherical shape and size of products. The OH(-) ions were used for the second ion exchange step to fabricate Ca(OH)(2) composite particles. The results revealed that the Ca(OH)(2) composite particles were size tunable, had a spherical shape, and were monodisperse (with a relative standard deviation of less than 8%). The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay revealed that the Ca(OH)(2) composite particles were potential biocompatible materials.