Glycerin-assisted solvothermal synthesis of Fe3(PO4)2(OH)2 microspheres

Iron hydroxyl phosphate (Fe-3(PO4)(2)(OH)(2)) microspheres with diameters of several micrometers have been successfully prepared using Fe(NO3)(3)circle 9H(2)O and NaH2PO4.2H(2)O in a mixed solvent of deionized water and glycerin by a facile one-step solvothermal method. The crystal phase of the product changes from poorly crystallized FePO4 circle 2H(2)O nanoparticles into well-crystallized (Fe-3(PO4)(2)(OH)(2)) microspheres as the amount of glycerin increases. The as-prepared (Fe-3(PO4)(2)(OH)(2)) microspheres can transform into FePO4 through thermal treatment at 800 degrees C in air. The cytotoxicity tests show that the as-prepared (Fe-3(PO4)(2)(OH)(2)) microspheres have good biocompatibility. We expect that the as-prepared (Fe-3(PO4)(2)(OH)(2)) microspheres are promising for the applications in various fields. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.