Investigation on the structure and upconversion fluorescence of Yb(3+)/Ho(3+) co-doped fluorapatite crystals for potential biomedical applications

Rare-earth Yb(3+) and Ho(3+) co-doped fluorapatite (FA:Yb(3+)/Ho(3+)) crystals were prepared by hydrothermal synthesis, and their structure, upconversion properties, cell proliferation and imaging were investigated. The synthesized crystals, with a size of 16 by 286 nm, have a hexagonal crystal structure of classic FA and a Ca/Yb/Ho molar ratio of 100/16/2.1. Several reasonable Yb(3+)/Ho(3+) -embedding lattice models along the fluorine channel of the FA crystal cell are proposed for the first time, such as models for (Ca(7)YbHo©)(PO(4))(6)F(2) and (Ca(6)YbHoNa(2))(PO(4))(6)F(2). The activated FA:Yb(3+)/Ho(3+) crystals were found to exhibit distinct upconversion fluorescence. The 543- and 654-nm signals in the emission spectra could be assigned, respectively, to the (5)F(4) ((5)S(2)) - (5)I(8) and (5)F(5) - (5)I(8) transitions of holmium via 980-nm near-infrared excitation and the energy transfer of ytterbium. After the surfaces were grafted with hydrophilic dextran, the crystals displayed clear fluorescent cell imaging. Thus, the prepared novel FA:Yb(3+)/Ho(3+) upconversion fluorescent crystals have potential applications in the biomedical field.