PEGylation of fluoridated hydroxyapatite (FAp):Ln3+ nanorods for cell imaging

• DOI: 10.1039/c3py00489a
• Publication Date: 2013-05-08T09:04:28Z
• Authors: Xiaoyong Zhang; Junfeng Hui; Bin Yang; Yong Yang; Daidi Fan; Meiying Liu; Lei Tao; Yen Wei
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology

PEGylation is a popular approach for the surface functionalization of nanoparticles to achieve improved properties and better performance. Herein, we developed a facile method for surface PEGylation of hydrophobic fluoridated hydroxyapatite (FAp):Ln3+ (Ln = Eu or Tb) nanorods via hydrophobic interactions between oleic acid and amphiphilic synthetic copolymers, which were synthesized through reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using stearyl methacrylate (SMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) as monomers. Our results demonstrated that the morphology and fluorescent properties of the FAp nanorods are not significantly changed by the PEGylation procedure, and the resulting FAp nanorods were found to be stable in aqueous solution. More importantly, these PEGylated FAp nanorods are biocompatible with cells and could be utilized for cell imaging applications. Therefore, we believe that the method described in this work is a simple, efficient and general strategy for the surface PEGylation of hydrophobic nanoparticles.