Lanthanide phosphate (LnPO4 ) rods as bio-probes: A systematic investigation on structural, optical, magnetic, and biological characteristics

Synthesis, characterization, mechanical and magnetic characteristics of Gd3+ /PO4 3 - substituted zircon for application in hard tissue replacements

The study reports on the use of sol-gel technique to yield zircon type [Zr(1-0.1-x) GdxTi0.1 ] [(SiO4 )1-x (PO4 )x ] solid solution. Titanium has been used as a mineralizer to trigger zircon formation while equimolar concentrations of Gd3+ and PO4 3- were added to determine their accommodation limits in the zircon structure. The crystallization of t-ZrO2 as a dominant phase alongside the crystallization of m-ZrO2 and zircon were detected at 1200°C while their further annealing revealed the formation of zircon as a major phase at 1300°C. Heat treatment at 1400°C revealed the formation of zircon-type solid solution [Zr(1-0.1-x) Gdx Ti0.1 ][(SiO4 )1-x (PO4 )x ] comprising the accommodation of 10 mol.% of Gd3+ /PO4 3- at the zircon lattice. Beyond 10 mol.% of Gd3+ /PO4 3- , the crystallization of GdPO4 as a secondary phase is noticed. Structural analysis revealed the expansion of zircon lattice due to the simultaneous occupancy of Gd3+ /PO4 3- for the corresponding Zr4+ /SiO4 4- sites. The mechanical strength of single-phase zircon solid solution was higher in comparison to that of multiphase materials, namely in the presence of GdPO4 formed as a secondary phase in samples with added equimolar Gd3+ /PO4 3- contents beyond 10 mol.%. Nevertheless, the paramagnetic behavior of the samples demonstrated a steady surge as a function of enhanced Gd3+ content.

Exploring the Biomedical Potential of PLA/Dysprosium Phosphate Composites via Extrusion-Based 3D Printing: Design, Morphological, Mechanical, and Multimodal Imaging and Finite Element Modeling

The present investigation demonstrates the feasibility of dysprosium phosphate (DyPO4) as an efficient additive in polylactide (PLA) to develop 3D printed scaffolds through the material extrusion (MEX) principle for application in bone tissue engineering. Initially, uniform sized particles of DyPO4 with tetragonal crystal setting are obtained and subsequently blended with different concentrations of PLA to extrude in the form of filaments. A maximum of 20 wt % DyPO4 in PLA matrix has been successfully drawn to yield a defect free filament. The resultant filaments were 3D printed through material extrusion methodology. The structural and morphological analysis confirmed the successful reinforcement of DyPO4 throughout the PLA matrix in all of the 3D printed components. All of the PLA/DyPO4 composites exhibited magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography contrasting properties, which were dependent on the dysprosium content in the PLA matrix. The detailed mechanical evaluation of the 3D printed PLA/DyPO4 composites ensured good strength accomplished by the reinforcement of 5 wt % DyPO4 in PLA matrix, beyond which a gradual decline in the strength is noticed. Representative volume elements models were developed to realize the intrinsic property of the PLA/DyPO4 composite, and finite element analysis under both static and dynamic loading conditions has been performed to account for the reliability of experimental results.

A TbPO4-based capturer for environmental extracellular antibiotic genes by interrogating lanthanide phosphates nanoneedles

Accurate determination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in environmental DNA molecules (eDNA) is challenging owing to its low abundance in the aquatic environment. Here we report a facile and cost-efficient approach to extract trace amount of eDNAs in the aquatic environment using LnPO₄ nanomaterials. Among the nanomaterials, less crystalline TbPO₄ nanoneedles was identified as the most prominent candidate for long stranded DNA and short stranded DNA with adsorption efficiency above 97%. The adsorbed DNA was washed off from TbPO₄ nanoneedles by optimized eluant (85% PBS, 15% EtOH, 4 g/L glycine, pH 10.0) with an optimal DNA recovery of 78.83%. Our approach showed a comparable or better eDNA extraction efficiency than a commercial extraction method for different environmental samples, but 89% less cost. The high purity of the extracted eDNA was demonstrated by a high A_260/280 ratio. Using qPCR experiment, the occurrence of six common ARGs in the eDNA were detected with abundance ranging from 4.06 × 10³ to 3.51 × 10⁹ copies/L in river samples. This specific DNA capturer is valuable for the evaluation of spatial and temporal dynamic of ARGs pollution to provide insight into the potential risk with regard to the human health.

Lanmodulin Remains Unfold and Fails to Interact with Lanthanide Ions in Escherichia coli Cells

We report the conformation of a newly discovered specific lanthanide ions (Ln3+) binding protein, Lanmodulin (LanM), and its inteaction with Ln3+ in Escherichia coli cells using In-cell NMR. We found...

High-efficient fabrication of core-shell-shell structured SiO2@GdPO4:Tb@SiO2 nanoparticles with improved luminescence

SiO₂@GdPO₄:Tb@SiO₂ nanoparticles with core-shell-shell structure were successfully synthesized by a cheap silane coupling agent grafting method at room temperature. This method not only homogeneously coated rare-earth phosphate nanoparticles on the surface of silica spheres but also saved the use of rare-earth resources. The obtained nanoparticles consisted of SiO₂ core with a diameter of approximately 210 nm, GdPO₄:Tb intermediate shell with thickness of approximately 7 nm, and SiO₂ outer shell with thickness of approximately 20 nm. This unique core-shell-shell structured nanoparticles exhibited strong luminescence properties compared with GdPO₄:Tb nanoparticles. The core-shell-shell structured nanoparticles can effectively quench the intrinsic fluorescence of bovine serum albumin through a static quenching mode. The as-synthesized nanoparticles show great potential in biological cell imaging and cancer treatment.

Structure, mechanical, optical, and imaging contrast features of Yb3+ , Dy3+ , Tb3+ , Gd3+ , Eu3+ , and Nd3+ substituted Y2 O3 -Ln2 O3 solid solution

Bulk ceramic that possess the combined features of structural stability at elevated temperatures, appropriate mechanical stability, luminescence features, magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging capacity in a single platform is considered an exciting prospect in biomedical applications. In this study, six different lanthanides (Ln³⁺ :Yb³⁺ , Dy³⁺ , Tb³⁺ , Gd³⁺ , Eu³⁺ , and Nd³⁺ ) were combined together to yield a Y₂ O₃ :Ln₂ O₃ solid solution and subsequently tested for the proposed application. Three different Y₂ O₃ :Ln₂ O₃ solid solutions were formed by varying the concentrations of Ln³⁺ precursors. A unique cubic crystal structure with Ia-3 (206) space setting is retained until 1500 °C and moreover an expanded lattice is accomplished with the gradual inclusion of six different Ln³⁺ . Optical analysis inferred the characteristic electronic transitions of all the Ln³⁺ and moreover up-conversion and down-conversion emission behavior were also attributed by the material during excitation at 795 and 350 nm. Nanoindentation studies exercised on the material envisaged reasonably enhanced hardness and Young's modulus values. Further, the enhanced CT imaging potential alongside in vitro MRI study deliberating the longitudinal (T₁ ) and transverse (T₂ ) relaxivity ability of the material is also established.

HDEHP assisted solvothermal synthesis of monodispersed REPO4 (RE = La–Lu, Y) nanocrystals and their photoluminescence properties

In this paper, a novel method is reported for the preparation of spherical REPO₄ particles.