Abstract
We demonstrated that Fe/Cr doped and pH-modified CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) exhibit enhanced photocatalytic performance as compared to bare CeO2 NPs, using photocatalytic degradation. To assess the toxicity level of these double-modified CeO2 NPs on the human skin, they were introduced into HaCaT cells. The results of our conventional cellular toxicity assays (neutral red uptake and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide for assays) indicated that Cr@CeOx NPs prompt severe negative effects on the viability of human cells. Moreover, the results obtained by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and bio-transmission electron microscope analysis showed that most of the NPs were localized outside the nucleus of the cells. Thus, serious genetic toxicity was unlikely. Overall, this study highlights the need to prevent the development of Cr@CeOx NP toxicity. Moreover, further research should aim to improve the photocatalytic properties and activity of these NPs while accounting for their stability issues.
Highlights
Versatile metal oxide nanoparticles (MO NPs) have been extensively applied in various scientific and engineering fields such as electrochemical reactions, photocatalytic degradation, fuel cells, and photoreactions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
All the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were typical of the fluorite-structured CeO2 without any clear structural changes
The lattice constant calculated for CeO2 was 5.41 ± 0.03 Å, which is the same as those calculated for the two double-modified CeO2 NPs
Summary
Versatile metal oxide nanoparticles (MO NPs) have been extensively applied in various scientific and engineering fields such as electrochemical reactions, photocatalytic degradation, fuel cells, and photoreactions [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Nanometer-sized MO NPs can penetrate the human body through the skin, and, the biocompatibility of these nanoparticles (NPs) should be seriously considered as a safety measure [10,11,12,13] They may be detrimental to human health, which is potentially toxic to cells. Double modulating strategies involving the doping of CeO2 NPs with a transition metal and their pH modification under basic conditions (TM@CeOx NPs) have been reported to be effective in enhancing the photocatalytic activity of CeO2 NPs [22,23,24].
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