Synthesis of different sized and porous hydroxyapatite nanorods without organic modifiers and their 5-fluorouracil release performance

Porous biocompatible hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanorods of various sizes were synthesized by the combination of chemical precipitation and hydrothermal method without the use of organic modifiers. The HAP nanorod samples were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption/desorption techniques. HAP nanorods with average diameters and average lengths ranging from 8.5 to 26.6nm and from 23.1 to 49.7nm, respectively, could be controllably synthesized via these methods. Low autoclaving temperature and high pH value favored the formation of relatively small HAP nanorods. The TEM images showed that the nanorods possessed porous structures with average pore diameters ranging from 1.6 to 2.7nm. These HAP nanoparticles effectively prolonged the release time of 5-fluorouracil up to 24h. The as-synthesized HAP nanorods displayed no cytotoxicity to bone marrow stem cells at low HAP concentration, indicating that these nanorod materials could serve as potential carriers for novel drug release systems. [Display omitted] •Porous HAP nanorods were synthesized by chemical precipitation/hydrothermal method.•Particle sizes of HAP nanorods were tunably changed without using organic modifiers.•Porous HAP nanorods had average pore diameters of 1.6–2.7nm measured from TEM image.•Porous HAP as drug carrier effectively prolonged the release time of 5-fluorouracil.