Abstract
The spectroscopic properties of Eu(3+) in biocompatible glass and glass-ceramic eutectic rods of composition 0.8CaSiO(3)-0.2Ca(3)(PO(4))(2) doped with 0.5 wt% of Eu(2)O(3) are investigated to explore their potential applications as optical probes. The samples were obtained by the laser floating zone technique. Depending on the growth rate, they exhibit three (two crystalline and one amorphous) or two (one crystalline and one amorphous) phases. The crystalline phases correspond to Ca(2)SiO(4) and apatite-like structures. At high growth rates the system presents an amorphous arrangement which gives a glass phase. The results of time-resolved fluorescence line narrowing spectroscopy obtained under excitation within the inhomogeneous broadened (7)F(0)→(5)D(0) absorption band allow to isolate the emission from Eu(3+) ions in the crystalline and amorphous environments and to accurately correlate the spectroscopic properties with the microstructure of these eutectics.
Highlights
Ceramic biomaterials study for tissue repair and bone replacement has been developed throughout the last decades since the discovery of a bioactive glass by Hench et al in 1970[1]
The authors analyzed the microstructure of these eutectic glassceramics doped with Nd2O3 and found that they were composed of irregularly shaped fibers embedded in a matrix and aligned parallel to the growing direction [16]
In these glass-ceramics doped with Nd3+ ions, a growth rate increase led the system to a structural arrangement from three to two phases
Summary
Worth mentioning is the fact that this material presents a high reactivity in simulated body fluid (SBF) so that when soaked into SBF an alteration of the material, based on the solution of W into SBF and a pseudomorphic transformation of TCP into HA is produced, giving rise to a thin layer of porous material This eutectic glass, when doped with rare earths, has shown excellent optical properties [13,14,15]. The Ca2SiO4 crystalline structure observed in the glass-ceramic samples grown at low rate shows high reactivity when soaked into simulated body fluid giving rise to a porous layer. The line structure in the TRFLN spectra together with the remarkably different lifetime values of the 5D0 state as a function of excitation wavelength allows to isolate the emission from Eu3+ ions in the crystalline and amorphous environments and to accurately correlate the spectroscopic properties with the microstructure of these eutectics
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