Among the wide spectrum of natural sunlight, exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light is harmful to the skin and causes various dermatologic diseases including skin cancer. 1,2 UV can be generally divided into three parts depending on wavelengths: UVA (315~400 nm), UVB (280~315 nm), and UVC (100~280 nm). It is well known that UVC barely reaches on the earth surface due to strong absorption in the ozone layer, however UVA and UVB radiation on the skin induces reactive oxygen species that result in the destruction of proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids through photooxidation reactions. [3][4][5] Sunscreens are widely utilized for prevention of damage related to UVA and UVB. The nanoparticles of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are commonly used as inorganic components for commercial sunscreen materials due to the wide range absorbance of UV-spectrum. 6,7 One disadvantage of these materials is phototoxicity originated from their photocatalytic reactivity under the radiation of UV and visible lights. 8 Both compounds can generate reactive oxygen species associated with free radicals, which can potentially damage the human skin. 9 Hydroxyapatite (Ca 10 (PO 4 ) 6 (OH) 2 ) 4 , HAP) is considered as a main inorganic material of human bone and teeth. 10 Because of its biocompatibility, HAPs are applied to artificial hard tissue engineering such as bond and dental implants. 11,12 In addition, the cation exchange reaction of the calcium ion in HAP with various transition metals enables incorporation of other metals on the surface of HAP. Because of the ion exchange ability, HAPs have been applied as sorption materials, heterogeneous catalysts, hard tissue engineering materials, and sun blocking materials. [13][14][15] The Amin group recently reported that HAP-ascorbic acid nanocomposite is utilized for the non-toxic constituent of sunscreen. 16 And zinc, manganese, and iron oxide-doped HAPs exhibit excellent UVblocking properties. 17,18 Herein, we report the preparation of silver-doped HAP (AgHAP) and its blocking capability of UV and visible radiation. We found that silver nanoparticles are incorporated on the surface of HAP and AgHAP exhibits an absorption spectra which covers full UV region as well as visible region. Therefore, we expect that AgHAP can be applied for the ingredient of sunscreen with less phototaxicity.HAP was synthesized by a hydrothermal method under a basic aqueous condition in which Na 2 HPO 4 and Ca(NO 3 ) 2 Á 4H 2 O were used as phosphate and calcium precursors, respectively. The details of preparation procedures was previously reported. 19 Silver-incorporated HAP was synthesized by a cation exchange reaction in aqueous solution. HAP (0.5 g) was added to the 50 mL of silver nitrate solution (0.01 M) with 1 min of sonication, followed by 20 min of rocking. The precipitates were collected by centrifugation, and washed three times using distilled water. Finally, AgHAP was obtained by drying under vacuum at ambient temperature for overnight, followed by annealing at 100 C for 3 h.The XRD patterns of HAP and Ag...