Microstructural Analysis of Terbium Doped Zirconia and Its Biological Studies

Abstract

Zirconia has its place in the biomedical industry because of its mechanical strength, bio-inertness, and physiochemical properties. Zirconia was synthesized and doped with Terbium (Tb), a lanthanide that was reported to show a photoluminescence property, which was a major characteristic for carcinogenic studies. Zirconia and Tb doped Zirconia were synthesized using the co-precipitation technique and were sintered at a temperature ranging from 900 to 1200 °C. The Zirconia sample and Tb doped Zirconia were thus studied for structural diversities using the X-ray powder diffraction technique (XRD), FTIR, FE-SEM, and TEM. From XRD, Zirconia phase transformation from monoclinic to tetragonal phase was observed, which signified limited fracture, elasticity, and crack formation. It was evident that Terbium stabilized the tetragonal phase of Zirconia, which reportedly shows mechanical properties, which include fracture toughness and flexural strength. The particle size of the Zirconia was comparatively more than the Tb doped Zirconia. The particle size of Zirconia ranged between 176 nm and 393 nm and the particle size of Tb doped Zirconia ranged between 110 nm and 343 nm. The biocompatibility of both the samples was tested using an Mg-63 cell line, and the cell viability was observed to be higher in Tb doped Zirconia when compared to the undoped Zirconia sample.