Abstract
he synthesis of extremely stable molybdenum oxide nanocolloids by pulsed laser ablation was studied. This green technique ensures the formation of contaminant-free nanostructures and the absence of by-products. A focused picosecond pulsed laser beam was used to ablate a solid molybdenum target immersed in deionized water. Molybdenum oxide nearly spherical nanoparticles with dimensions within few nanometers (20-100 nm) are synthesized when the ablation processes were carried out, in water, at room temperature and 80°C. The application of an external electric field during the ablation process induces a nanostructures reorganization, as indicated by Scanning-Transmission Electron Microscopy images analysis. The ablation products were also characterized by some spectroscopic techniques: conventional UV-vis optical absorption, atomic absorption, dynamic light scattering, micro-Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. Finally, NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts were used to evaluate cell viability by the sulforhodamine B assay
Highlights
Over the last decade, laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) is gradually becoming an irreplaceable technique to synthesize metal oxide nanostructures which represent a new type of analytical tools for biotechnology and life science, including diagnosis and therapy of human diseases [1]
We expected that the high repetition rate of ps lasers is advantageous to enhance the production of nanoparticles while the morphology and composition of PLAL-generated nanomaterials can be readily controlled by changing the external environment
We expected that the electric field assisted laser ablation leads to the generation of nanoparticles with a narrow size and a well defined distribution
Summary
Laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) is gradually becoming an irreplaceable technique to synthesize metal oxide nanostructures which represent a new type of analytical tools for biotechnology and life science, including diagnosis and therapy of human diseases [1]. Metal oxide nanostructures can act as nanoprobes for biomedical imaging, drug delivery carriers, or as therapeutic agents by themselves They have shown to be excellent antioxidants in vitro and in vivo models, even if their toxicity emerges in some conditions. This is determined by the different physico-chemical properties of metal oxide nanostructures synthesized using mainly chemical approaches and by the testing conditions (i.e. the experimental environment or the kind of cells). The effect of an external electric field, applied during the ablation process, was exploited in order to check for modifications of the nanoparticles surface morphology and chemical bonding configurations. In view of potential biological applications, the molybdenum oxide nanoparticles cytotoxicity towards the fibroblast cell line NIH/3T3 has been investigated
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