Photoluminescent Hydroxylapatite: Eu3+ Doping Effect on Biological Behaviour

Ecaterina Andronescu; Daniela Predoi; Ionela Andreea Neacsu; Andrei Viorel Paduraru; Adina Magdalena Musuc; Roxana Trusca; Ovidiu Oprea; Eugenia Tanasa; Otilia Ruxandra Vasile; Adrian Ionut Nicoara; Adrian Vasile Surdu; Florin Iordache; Alexandra Catalina Birca; Simona Liliana Iconaru; Bogdan Stefan Vasile

doi:10.3390/nano9091187

Photoluminescent Hydroxylapatite: Eu³⁺ Doping Effect on Biological Behaviour

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2019 Aug 22;9(9):1187. doi: 10.3390/nano9091187.

Authors

Ecaterina Andronescu^{1

2

3}, Daniela Predoi⁴, Ionela Andreea Neacsu^{1

2}, Andrei Viorel Paduraru¹, Adina Magdalena Musuc^{1

5}, Roxana Trusca^{2

3}, Ovidiu Oprea^{1

2}, Eugenia Tanasa^{2

3}, Otilia Ruxandra Vasile^{2

3}, Adrian Ionut Nicoara^{1

2}, Adrian Vasile Surdu^{1

2}, Florin Iordache⁶, Alexandra Catalina Birca^{1

2}, Simona Liliana Iconaru⁴, Bogdan Stefan Vasile^{7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
² National Centre for Micro and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
³ National Research Center for Food Safety, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania.
⁴ Multifunctional Materials and Structures Laboratory, National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Magurele, Romania.
⁵ Ilie Murgulescu Institute of Physical Chemistry, 060021 Bucharest, Romania.
⁶ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agronomic Science and Veterinary Medicine, 011464 Bucharest, Romania.
⁷ Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, Department of Science and Engineering of Oxide Materials and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania. bogdan.vasile@upb.ro.
⁸ National Centre for Micro and Nanomaterials, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania. bogdan.vasile@upb.ro.
⁹ National Research Center for Food Safety, University Politehnica of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania. bogdan.vasile@upb.ro.

Abstract

Luminescent europium-doped hydroxylapatite (Eu_XHAp) nanomaterials were successfully obtained by co-precipitation method at low temperature. The morphological, structural and optical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR), UV-Vis and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of Eu_XHAp were also evaluated using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide)) assay, oxidative stress assessment and fluorescent microscopy. The results reveal that the Eu³⁺ has successfully doped the hexagonal lattice of hydroxylapatite. By enhancing the optical features, these Eu_XHAp materials demonstrated superior efficiency to become fluorescent labelling materials for bioimaging applications.

Keywords: MTT assay; europium doped hydroxylapatite; fluorescent microscopy; oxidative stress assessment; photoluminescence.