Cerium-doped hydroxyapatite nanoparticles synthesized by the co-precipitation method

The present work reports a simple adapted co-precipitation method for the synthesis of stable Ce-substituted Ca hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles. The structural and morphological properties of the Ce-doped hydroxyapatite (Ce:HAp) were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). The optical properties of the Ce-doped hydroxyapatite were also investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence analysis. The results of the XRD studies revealed the progressive increase in the a-and c-axes with increasing Ce concentration. In the FTIR studies of Ce: HAp powders, a structure similar to that of hydroxyapatite was observed. The IR and Raman wavenumbers and the peak strengths of the bands associated with the P-O and O-H bonds decreased progressively with increasing Ce concentration. All the emission maxima could be attributed to 5d-4f transitions of the Ce ions. The displacements of the maximum emission bands with increasing Cerium in the samples were in agreement with the results obtained by XRD studies. The Ce: HAp samples with x(Ce) = 0.03 and 0.05 exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacterial strains compared to Ce: HAp samples with xCe = 0 (pure HAp) and 0.01.