Engineering photoluminescent and magnetic lamellar hydroxyapatite by facile one-step Se/Gd dual-doping

The design and synthesis of multifunctional hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles are important in expanding their clinical applications. Herein we report a novel selenium (Se) and gadolinium (Gd) dual-doped lamellar hydroxyapatite (L-HAp-Se-Gd) produced by facile one-step template-assisted synthesis. The results show that the as-prepared L-HAp-Se-Gd nanoparticles exhibit obvious changes in morphology, dimensions, and crystallinity as compared to bare L-HAp. XRD results reveal that high dopant levels of Se and Gd reduce the degree of ordering of HAp lamellae. It is found that the L-HAp-Se-Gd nanoparticles display Gd content-dependent blue fluorescence under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and magnetic properties. Cell tests with mouse embryo osteoblast cells (MC3T3-E1) reveal their improved biocompatibility over bare L-HAp due to Se incorporation. These results indicate that L-HAp-Se-Gd nanoparticles have potential in numerous applications such as multifunctional gene delivery and bioimaging.