Morphological, mechanical, and antibacterial investigation of a ternary nanocomposite contains hydroxyapatite, tellurium(IV) oxide (Te 2 O 4 ), and graphene oxide in vitro

Hydroxyapatite (HAP), tellurium(IV) oxide (Te 2 O 4 ), and graphene oxide (GO) were combined alternatively to form binary and ternary nanocomposites. Structural characteristics are confirmed by different methods such as X-ray diffraction measurement (XRD), while morphological features are offered by scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). Regarding the morphological imaging by both TEM and SEM of ternary composite, TEM shows the highest aggregation degree, besides well-defined grains with an average grain size of 20.8 nm. As well, the grain size in the FESEM micrograph is ranged from 90 to 131 nm which supports the tactic to control growing path, grain size and surface roughness, and porosity via combining different gradients in the composite. EDX demonstrates that the atomic weight percent of Ca/P ratios in ternary composite elements was 1.64, while the theoretical value is 1.67. Moreover, the ternary composition represents the uppermost roughness average with 47.6 nm, while HAP records the lowest value with 32.2 nm. Thus, HAP additives are boosted roughness topographies. As well, the expected result of cell viability of ternary composite is in well attach with the resulted one in hitting the highest percentage with 97.3 ± 2. Finally, the clear zone of antibacterial testing for E. coli species is 24.6 ± 1.5 mm and 23.5 ± 1.2 mm which is the highest reported result. Moreover, the microhardness increased from 2.5 ± 0.2 to 3.6 ± 0.2 GPa from HAP to HAP/Te 2 O 4 /GO. These results reflect the effect of three ingredients combination and variety in oxygen bonding in HAP/Te 2 O 4 /GO in radicals releasing that tightly affect the antibacterial potential. The mentioned previous data could be introduced to the studied nanocomposites in biomedical applications.