Influence of Eu3 + doping content on antioxidant properties of Lu2O3 sol-gel derived nanoparticles

• For first time the effect of the Eu content vs antioxidant properties was studied.
• Sol-gel particles of Lu2O3:Eu3 + nanopowders showed relevant antioxidant properties.
• The antioxidant behavior remains stable at higher Eu levels.

This paper presents the synthesis of pure and europium-doped lutetium oxide (Lu2O3) powders prepared by sol-gel method. The influence of europium ion concentration into Lu2O3 nanocrystallites was investigated for first time in an in vitro system using a modified ABTS radical cation decolorization assay to determine the antioxidant activity. The crystalline structure of Lu2O3 and Eu:Lu2O3 powders was elucidated by XRD obtaining cubic phase in all system without secondary products in accordance with FT-IR results. By TEM and Scherrer equation, it was determined that Lu2O3 and Eu:Lu2O3 powders presented nearly spherical particle morphology with crystallites sizes in the range of 8 to 13 nm. The antioxidant assays results revealed that europium ion enhance Lu2O3 powders antioxidant properties, showing that 12.5 mol% of europium is sufficient to reach its maximum capacity.