Apatites: naturally occurring phosphates

Apatites and other (solid) calcium phosphates are of considerable interest to biologists, mineralogists and the chemical industry alike. The main reasons for this are, on the one hand, that apatites are the building blocks of teeth and bones throughout the animal world, and that acidic calcium phosphates are probably involved in pathological calcification or fossilization processes. On the other hand, on an industrial level, apatites and other calcium phosphates are beginning to be used as biocompatible materials for synthetic bones or the surfacing of bone prostheses, while they are already widely exploited for the production of fertilizers or even as a source of phosphorus in fluorescent light tubes.

All these uses are the consequence of two remarkable physical-chemical properties of this family of compounds: their low solubility and their ability to accept a large proportion of the elements in the periodic table in their formula.