Abstract
Halloysite is a promising building block in nanoarchitectonics of functional materials, especially in the development of novel biomaterials and smart coatings. Understanding the behavior of materials produced using halloysite nanotubes within living organisms is essential for their safe applications. In this study, quantum dots of different compositions were synthesized on the surface of modified clay nanotubes, and the biodistribution of this hybrid material was monitored within Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes. The influence of the modification agent as well as the particles’ composition on physicochemical properties of hybrid nanomaterials was investigated. Several microscopy techniques, such as fluorescence and dark-field microscopy, were compared in monitoring the distribution of nanomaterials in nematodes’ organisms. The effects of QDs-halloysite composites on the nematodes’ life cycle were investigated in vivo. Our fluorescent hybrid probes induced no acute toxic effects in model organisms. The stable fluorescence and low toxicity towards the organisms suggest that the proposed synthesis procedure yields safe nanoarchitectonic materials that will be helpful in monitoring the behavior of nanomaterials inside living cells and organisms.
Highlights
The spectral characteristics of quantum dots are outlined by their composition and structure; nanoarchitectonics of semiconductors and semiconductors-based hybrid materials is important for research and industrial applications
We demonstrate that this kind of synthesis procedure led to the self-organization of sulfide particles with less than 10 nm size selectively on the surface of the clay and not in the bulk
A new approach that may help in monitoring the behavior of nanomaterials inside living organisms by the anchoring of quantum dots (QDs) on their surface was proposed in this study
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. A nanoarchitectonics approach for targeted production of biomaterials, catalysts, membranes, sensors and smart coatings based on halloysite is a fast-developing area of research [1,2,3,4,5]. Halloysite clay nanotubes have been extensively studied as a component of food packaging materials, tissue engineering scaffolds, drug delivery systems, bone implants, as antibacterial materials and in cosmetics [6,7,8,9,10,11]. The synthesis of nanoparticles of various shapes, compositions, and functional properties using halloysite clay tubes as a template is exceptionally promising due to a large number of prospective applications
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