Could Iron-Nitrogen Doping Modulate the Cytotoxicity of TiO2 Nanoparticles?

Ionela Cristina Nica,Bogdan Andrei Miu,Miruna S Stan,Lucian Diamandescu,Anca Dinischiotu

doi:10.3390/nano12050770

Ionela Cristina Nica, Bogdan Andrei Miu + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12050770

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Abstract

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) are found in several products on the market that include paints, smart textiles, cosmetics and food products. Besides these, TiO2 NPs are intensively researched for their use in biomedicine, agriculture or installations to produce energy. Taking into account that several risks have been associated with the use of TiO2 NPs, our aim was to provide TiO2 NPs with improved qualities and lower toxicity to humans and the environment. Pure TiO2 P25 NPs and the same NPs co-doped with iron (1%) and nitrogen atoms (P25-Fe(1%)-N NPs) by hydrothermal treatment to increase the photocatalytic activity in the visible light spectrum were in vitro evaluated in the presence of human lung cells. After 24 and 72 h of incubation, the oxidative stress was initiated in a time- and dose-dependent manner with major differences between pure P25 and P25-Fe(1%)-N NPs as revealed by malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species levels. Additionally, a lower dynamic of autophagic vacuoles formation was observed in cells exposed to Fe-N-doped P25 NPs compared to the pure ones. Therefore, our results suggest that Fe-N doping of TiO2 NPs can represent a valuable alternative to the conventional P25 Degussa particles in industrial and medical applications.

Highlights

Due to the high interest generated by the photocatalytic applications of TiO2 NPs in different fields such as medicine, food industry or cosmetics, we comparatively studied the toxicity of pure TiO2 P25 NPs and the same NPs co-doped with Fe (1%) and N atoms in order to increase the photocatalytic activity in the visible light spectrum
Our results showed that the ROS formation in cells exposed to TiO2 NPs was time- and dose-dependent, but a major difference could be observed between the two samples
Our results showed that the Fe-N-doping of TiO2 P25 NPs can reduce their toxic effect on human lung fibroblasts

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) display a high ability for various applications including microelectronics, energy storage, environmental decontamination, gas sensing, ceramic fabrication, biomedicine (imaging, drug delivery, therapy and theranostics) [1–3]. Titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) NPs are one of the most widely used nanoscale materials in several market products that contain TiO2. These include paints [4], smart textiles [5], cosmetics, skin care [6] or food products [7]. The entire field of nanotechnology has made considerable progress, and TiO2 NPs were introduced in biomedicine [8], agriculture [9]

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