Luminescence and mineralization properties of Gd3+ stabilized β-dicalcium silicate

Abstract

In this work, Gd3+-doped β-dicalcium silicate (β-Ca2SiO4) was resoundingly prepared by high-temperature solid-phase method. The crystal structure of Gd3+-doped β-Ca2SiO4 before and after mineralization was investigated by using X-ray diffraction method (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the samples’ morphology. The chemical composition of Gd3+-doped β-Ca2SiO4 before and after mineralization was determined by X-ray energy-dispersive spectra (EDS). The luminescence properties of Gd3+-doped β-Ca2SiO4 before and after mineralization was investigated by photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The experimental results show that Gd3+ ions have the effect of stabilizing β-Ca2SiO4, and Gd3+-doped β-Ca2SiO4 has good biological activity and can be rapidly converted to hydroxyapatite (HA). Meanwhile, with the prolongation of mineralization time, the luminescence intensity of Gd3+ ion decreases gradually. This suggests that the mineralization process of β-Ca2SiO4 can be monitored according to the luminescence intensity of Gd3+ ion.