X-ray diffraction characterization of the untreated calcium phosphate from two Moroccan mining zones

Calcium phosphate Ca3(PO4)2 has a wide range of applications in a number of fields, such as medical, chemistry and industrial. Calcium phosphates are used in many biomedical applications through good biocompatibility and bioactivity. In biochemistry, calcium phosphates participate in providing energy for metabolism and substances and contribute to important metabolic and enzymatic reactions in almost all organs and tissues.1 The main industrial application of calcium phosphate is in the production of agriculture fertilizers. Many studies have been carried out on the crystalline structure and the crystallographic parameters of natural phosphates; the most common way to determine such structures is X-ray diffraction. Therefore, a study at the crystallographic level can be useful to help us understand some properties related to different problem and applications. Indeed, many authors explored several analyses of untreated phosphates that show a variation of their characteristics and their field of application.2–4 The aim of this article is to compare the composition and the structure of calcium phosphate Ca3(PO4)2 from two different mining centers with X-ray diffraction. The particularity in this study is the characterization of the calcium phosphate samples as-received.