Development and characterization of lanthanides doped hydroxyapatite composites for bone tissue application

Abstract

This work reports the preparation and characterization of newly developed 10CaF2-10Na2CO3-15CaO-59P205-5Si02 glasses, doped with lanthanides, in this case cerium and lanthanum oxide (10CaF2-10Na2CO3-15CaO-59P205-1CeO2-5SiO2 and 10CaF2-10Na2CO3-15CaO-59P205-1La2O3-5SiO2, respectively). The structure and morphology of the developed glasses have been investigated by Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive analyzer and X-ray mapping was used to assess the morphological properties of the glasses. Glass-ceramic composites, for bone tissue applications, were obtained by the mixture of 2.5wt% of each glass with 97.5wt% of hydroxyapatite. These were also analyzed by means of XRD and SEM. Composites were biologically evaluated with human osteoblastic-like cells. Lanthanide doped-hydroxyapatite composites revealed an improved biological behaviour, regarding cell adhesion and proliferation, compared to hydroxyapatite and undoped glasshydroxyapatite composites. Lanthanide doped composites reported an adequate biocompatibility, further enhancing the cell adhesion and proliferation, behaviour that indicates a prospective application in bone tissue engineering.