Nanomaterials such as hydroxyapatite have been extensively researched, thanks to their unsual properties, which are similar in chemical composition to bone tissue. In addition, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles offer a wide range of possibilities for functionalization which make it an interesting material for target drug delivery applications, showing strong potential for coupling natural substances such as curcumin to improve the antitumor effect of this substance in the fight against cancer. Curcumin has been researched over the years, thanks to its anticancer properties. Hydroxyapatite also allows the incorporation of paramagnetic elements into their structure, such as gadolinium (Gd), allowing the production of a probe for diagnostic imaging using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging systems. In this work, hydroxyapatite nanorods (HA) doped with Gd were synthesized to produce folic acid (FA) functionalized nanostructures for targeted delivery of curcumin (CM). The samples were characterized using various techniques, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), zeta potential analysis (ζ), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and vibrating samples magnetometry (VSM). The results indicated a successful obtaining of paramagnetic HA-Gd nanostructures functionalized with FA and CM, exhibiting characteristics that credit this system for future biological assays in order to evaluate their efficiency in the treatment and diagnosis of osteosarcoma.

Keywords: Hydroxyapatite nanorods, Folate functionalization, Theranostics, Magnetic properties, Curcumin.