Hydrothermal conversion and sol-gel coating of Red Sea coral

A new species, which was found and cloned under field and laboratory condition at the Red Sea, was used in the present study. Specific high density Red Sea coral was used for analysis. A modified and improved hydrothermal conversion process was used to convert the hydrocorals from calcium carbonate to HAp. The effects of the hydrothermal conversion on the pore size and the surface morphology of HAp structure have been studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). After the hydrothermal conversions the samples were further dip-coated via a new alkoxide sol-gel method and were examined to determine the surface parameters and morphology. It is anticipated that following the hydrothermal conversion and processing this new high density calcium phosphate coralline material can be used as a new bioceramic material in medical applications.