Wood-hydroxyapatite composite material was developed by depositing hydrated calcium hydrogen phosphate (HCHP) on the surface of wood from Chinese Glossy Privet (CGP) with polyethylene glycol (PEG, HO(CH2CH2O)(n)H) as the grafting agent and subsequent hydrothermal vapor treatment. The results illustrated that HCHP could adhere quickly and strongly on the PEG-grafted wood surface. Moreover, this HCHP could be efficiently transformed to hydroxyapatite (HA, Ca-10(PO4)(6)(OH)(2)) by hydrothermal vapor treatment. IR, XRD analysis and SEM observation indicated that the fabricated hydroxyapatite was pure and its morphology was uniform and microporous. This work provides a new fabricating approach of biocompatible material which may have some potential applications as bone-repairing material. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.