Calcium phosphate compounds have been widely studied for biomedical applications because of their chemical and structural similarity to the mineral phase constituting bone and teeth. In this work, biphasic calcium phosphate ceramics (HAP/beta-TCP), with tunable phase composition ratio, were synthesized by a solid state reaction process. The effect of varying the heat treatment temperature (700, 800, 900, 1000, and 1100 degrees C) on the formation of the ceramic materials and their related cytotoxicity were examined. The phase composition and morphology of the prepared ceramic powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, and the functional groups were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. Cell culture experiments, using murine macrophages, showed that the synthesized HAP/beta-TCP materials did not exhibit cytotoxicity regardless of the doses assayed or the differences in composition ratio of HAP/beta-TCP, suggesting the potential of HAP/beta-TCP for biological applications. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.