Abstract: A novel surface treatment method using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (AMPTES), was developed to immobilize the fluorescein molecule on nano-HAP (nanometer hydroxyapatite) powders. By pretreating the nano-HAP powders surface with AMPTES, fluorescein, chosen on the basis of the chemical structure of the nano- HAP powders, could be bound to the nano-HAP powders surface. The chemical compositions of nano-HAP before and after being labeled were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The morphology, phase composition, and the fluorescence characteristics of the nano-HAP powders with and without staining were also investigated. The FTIR and XPS results revealed that fluorescein had been successfully immobilized on the surface of AMPTES-bound nano-HAP powders via the acylamide bond formation between the -COOH of fluorescein and the -NH2 of AMPTES. The labeled nano-HAP powders possessed strong fluorescent intensity with a little deviation from the maximum emission wavelength of fluorescein. But the morphology and phase composition had no obvious alteration. Under fluorescence microscopy, the labeled nano-HAP powders, even after 24 h cell incubation, exhibited strong fluorescence.

Key words: Nano-HAP, Fluorescein, Silane coupling agent, Fluorescent intensity