Synthesis of Europium or Terbium Doped Hydroxyapatite Nanorods and Their Cytotoxicity

Using CaCO3, Eu2O3, Tb7O4, HNO3 and NH4H2PO4 as starting materials, regulating pH value by NH3 H2O, europium-doped and terbium-doped hydroxyapatite (HA:Eu3+/ HA:Tb3+) nanorods were prepared by hydrothermal method using EDTA as a template. The synthesized materials were systematically characterized by XRD and FESEM. Their luminescence properties and cytotoxicity were studied by fluorescence analysis and MTT assay, respectively. The results show that the main emission peaks of HA:Eu3+ and HA:Tb3+ nanorods occur at 617 and 544 nm, which can emit bright red and green light, respectively. The cell survival curves show that the prepared HA:Eu3+ and HA:Tb3+ nanorods can be used as ideal biological tracer materials.