Quanta 650 feg

The samples were sputter-coated (Jeol, JFC-1600, Japan) with a thin layer of gold approximately 6 nm for 60 s with sputter current of 30 mA. Digital morphology images of rcBCS were obtained by field emission environmental scanning electron microscopy (FE-ESEM, FEI Quanta 650 FEG, USA) at an accelerated voltage of 30 kV with XT Microscope Control software (version 6.28, FEI Quanta 650 FEG, USA). Following digital image acquisition, membrane thicknesses and pore sizes were measured the software described above.

SEM was used for analyzing the surface morphological changes of the PEEK scaffold upon mineralization of the CaP. A Quanta FEG 650 Scanning Electron Microscope Quanta FEG 650 from FEI, Hillsboro, OR, USA) was used in high vacuum mode. An Au-Pd coating was sputtered onto the polymer due to the non-conductive nature of PEEK. For all samples, 10 KV at a spot size of 4 was used.

The surface morphology of FeSO₄·7H₂O waste and the sludge generated after coagulation were determined using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) (Quanta FEG 650, FEI, Hillsboro, OR, USA). The sample was taken on an aluminum stub, then mounted with double side carbon tape, and sputter-coated with gold powder using a high-resolution sputter coater. The SEM image was taken at 10,000 magnification and an accelerating voltage of 5 kV. Moreover, the elemental compositions in FeSO₄·7H₂O waste and the sludge generated after coagulation were determined by Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analyses (Quanta FEG 650, FEI, Hillsboro, OR, USA). The presence of minerals compositions such as boron (b), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), magnesium (mg), phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K) was identified by Inductively Coupled Plasma, equipped with the Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) (PerkinElmer Optima 7300 DV, Waltham, MA, USA).