Hydroxyapatite (HAP), fluorapatite (Fap) and chlorapatite (Clap) were prepared by solution combustion method with further annealing at 800 degrees C. The characterization and structural features of the synthesized powders were evaluated by the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Characterization results from XRD and Rietveld analysis revealed that OH- in the HAP lattice were gradually substituted with the increase of F- and Cl- content and totally substituted at the molar concentration of 0.28 and 0.6, respectively. The results from FI-IR have also confirmed the incorporation of substituted anions in the apatite structure. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.