Force Radius Research Articles

Preparation and antibacterial properties of cerium-zinc co-doped hydroxyapatite-graphene composite

Cerium (Ce) and zinc (Zn) are common trace elements in human bodies. Ce-Zn co-doped hydroxyapatite (HA) composites has good application value in biomedical field. In this study, Ce-Zn co-doped hydroxyapatite-graphene (HA-GP) composite powders are successfully synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal method. Then, the Ce-Zn co-doped hydroxyapatite-graphene composites are characterized by a set of techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman infrared (Raman), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that Ce and Zn ions have been successfully doped into HA lattice by replacing partial Ca ions. However, due to the difference between the radii of Ce, Zn and Ca ions, the amorphous phases in the obtained composites increase with the increase of doping ratios, and the agglomeration phenomenon begins to appear as well. The antibacterial tests show that doping of Ce and Zn ions greatly improves the antibacterial properties of the composites. The sterilization rate reaches up to 93.2% as the doping content is increased to 10% (molar ratio), which implies that Ce-Zn co-doped HA-GP composite has a good antibacterial application prospect.