Metal Phosphates/Phosphonates for Biomedical Applications

The human body is composed of many vital elements and phosphorus is one such element that forms the basic ingredient of our biological constitution. Recently, researchers are more lenient on fabricating and applying materials for biomedical applications which pose the least threat to the human body with high mechanical strength and degradability opportunities. This provides an interesting platform and opens many avenues for the utilization of versatile metal conjugates of phosphorus in the form of phosphates/phosphonates as nanodevices or nanostructured moieties for varied biomedical applications. In this regard, metal phosphates/phosphonates have come out with such ideal properties making our biological functions better and comfortable with the least adverse reactions. Ideal metal phosphates/phosphonates are inert and degradable materials without any probability of releasing toxic contents and are generally employed for different applications namely in the field of dentistry as composite material for dental caries, cardiovascular stent fabrication, orthopedic applications, etc. As such metal phosphates are purely inorganic materials attached to phosphoric acid units and metal phosphonates are nanostructures comprising organophosphonate ligands attached to the organic–inorganic hybrid structures. These hybrid materials have a well-defined structural build triggering their usage as body implants and other in vivo applications. Thus, the current chapter highlights all the major strategies involving the fabrication of these hybrid structures with their latest biomedical applications involving biocompatibility studies.