Growth Mechanism of Surfactant-Free Size-Controlled Luminescent Hydroxyapatite Nanocrystallites

Abstract

Herein, a facile surfactant-free hydrothermal method assisted with coprecipitation has been explored in order to prepare size-controlled HAP nanorods, and the growth mechanism of HAP nanostructures has also been proposed. In this article, the size of the HAP crystallites, ranging from 40 to 1500 nm, were controlled by varying the reaction conditions. Likewise, the experimental conditions can be changed to alter the shapes of the HAP nanostructures from nanorods to nanobelts. Additionally, interesting optically properties were induced in nano-HAP by doping with rare earth elements. The samples doped with terbium and europium generated green and red orange emissions, respectively, under irradiation by blue light, which is popularly used for wound healing and skin disease treatment. Thus, the doped HAP nanocrystals through the surfactant-free method have potential applications in blue phototherapy and photodynamic therapy.