Europium-doped amorphous calcium phosphate porous nanospheres: preparation and application as luminescent drug carriers

• Published in: Nanoscale research letters Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 67
• Main Authors: Chen, Feng, Zhu, Ying-Jie, Zhang, Kui-Hua, Wu, Jin, Wang, Ke-Wei, Tang, Qi-Li, Mo, Xiu-Mei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer New York 12.01.2011; Springer Nature B.V; BioMed Central Ltd; Springer; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Biomaterials; Calcium phosphates; Chemistry and Materials Science; Cytotoxicity; Europium; Fabrication; Materials Science; Molecular Medicine; Nano Express; Nanochemistry; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Simulated Body Fluid; Drug Loading; Drug Release; Ibuprofen; Calcium Phosphate
• ISSN: 1556-276X; 1931-7573; 1556-276X
• DOI: 10.1186/1556-276X-6-67

Calcium phosphate is the most important inorganic constituent of biological tissues, and synthetic calcium phosphate has been widely used as biomaterials. In this study, a facile method has been developed for the fabrication of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP)/polylactide-block-monomethoxy(polyethyleneglycol) hybrid nanoparticles and ACP porous nanospheres. Europium-doping is performed to enable photoluminescence (PL) function of ACP porous nanospheres. A high specific surface area of the europium-doped ACP (Eu 3+ :ACP) porous nanospheres is achieved (126.7 m 2 /g). PL properties of Eu 3+ :ACP porous nanospheres are investigated, and the most intense peak at 612 nm is observed at 5 mol% Eu 3+ doping. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments indicate that the as-prepared Eu 3+ :ACP porous nanospheres are biocompatible. In vitro drug release experiments indicate that the ibuprofen-loaded Eu 3+ :ACP porous nanospheres show a slow and sustained drug release in simulated body fluid. We have found that the cumulative amount of released drug has a linear relationship with the natural logarithm of release time ( ln ( t )). The Eu 3+ :ACP porous nanospheres are bioactive, and can transform to hydroxyapatite during drug release. The PL properties of drug-loaded nanocarriers before and after drug release are also investigated.