these precipitates was done with double-distilled lukewarm water. This step was

followed by drying the precipitates for 24 h at 70 ^C. Mortar and pestle was used to

crush and grind the dried mass into fine powders.

23.4.2 Single-Ion-Substituted Nanodimensional Hydroxyapatites

Zinc nitrate tetrahydrate (ZNT, Zn(NO3)2.4H2O, Merck, AR grade) and magnesium

nitrate tetrahydrate (MNT, Mg(NO3)2.4H2O, Merck, AR grade) were used as zinc

and magnesium precursors for synthesizing zinc-substituted nanodimensional

hydroxyapatite

(ZnHA,

Zn0.2Ca9.8(PO4)6OH2)

and

magnesium-substituted

nanodimensional hydroxyapatite (MgHA, Mg0.2Ca0.98(PO4)6OH2), respectively.

1.0 M Solution A was made by adding appropriate amounts of CNT and ZNT or

MNT in the case of ZnHA and MgHA, respectively, and 0.6 M Solution B was made

by adding appropriate amount of KDP.

Europium nitrate pentahydrate (ENP, Eu(NO)3.5H2O, Merck, AR grade) was

used

as

europium

precursor

for

the

synthesis

of

europium-substituted

nanodimensional hydroxyapatite (EuHA, Eu0.2Ca9.8(PO4)6(OH)2). Appropriate

Fig. 23.1 Protocol for the synthesis of nanodimensional hydroxyapatites by sol-gel method

426

S. Kapoor et al.