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Crystallographic structure of human tooth enamel by electron microscopy and x‐ray diffraction: hexagonal or monoclinic?
Author(s) -
REYESGASGA J.,
MARTÍNEZPIÑEIRO E.L.,
BRÈS É.F.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.2012.03653.x
Subject(s) - monoclinic crystal system , crystallography , transmission electron microscopy , materials science , electron diffraction , diffraction , hexagonal crystal system , enamel paint , electron microscope , phase (matter) , x ray crystallography , tooth enamel , crystal structure , chemistry , nanotechnology , optics , physics , composite material , organic chemistry
Summary Recently reports on the major stability of the monoclinic phase of hydroxyapatite compared with the hexagonal phase have established it as the most observable structure of hydroxyapatite in natural materials, such as hard tissues. In this work, the structural and crystallographic analysis of the inorganic component of sound human tooth enamel was done by transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction and X‐ray diffraction techniques. The results indicated that its unit cell is hexagonal not monoclinic.