Hydroxyapatite a bio-ceramic is one of the main compounds present in our body tissues. Generally, bones have a high calcium content and Arthritis, Fracture, Infection, Tumours are the main factors that affect bones directly. Presently, steel plates are used in bone replacement surgeries. Natural hydroxyapatite and bones have similar physical and chemical characteristics and this thus makes it biocompatible. Hydroxyapatite can be synthetically derived from crab shells, eggshells and fishbone. Amongst them, crab shells have a high calcium content and as a huge amount of crab shells are produced daily, the same is easily available. Additionally, the cost of crab shells is less and hence, the shells can be used effectively for deriving hydroxyapatite (HA) powder synthetically.
A huge quantity of Poryunus Sanguinolentus crab shells is available in and around Rameshwaram coastal area. In this investigation, the Poryunus Sanguinolentus crab shell is used for HA preparation. The reactions between Poryunus Sanguinolentus crab shell powder (C₈H₁₃05_N) and calcium pyrophosphate (Ca₂P₂O₇) were performed through grinding, followed by the heat treatment to produce Hydroxy Apatite (HA). Further, the physical and chemical characteristics of the HA were analysed and the results derived from the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) micrograph, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDAX), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis (FTIR), Biocompatibility analysis, Compressive strength and Tensile strength analysis had shown that hence HA can be produced from Poryunus Sanguinolentus crab shells. These results show that the HA powder derived from the shells can be used as a biocompatible material

Keywords: Crab shell, Hydroxyapatite, Grinding, Heat treatment, Characterization analysis