Nanoencapsulation techniques as a “safer by (molecular) design” tool

Abstract

Designing safer materials is one of the main challenges in the world of nanotechnology because of the potential risks arising from nanomaterial production, use and disposal. In this work, two nanoencapsulation techniques are investigated and proposed as a “safer by (molecular) design” strategy for controlling and harmonizing the biological reactivity of silver and TiO2 nanoparticles. SiO2 coatings were applied to silver and TiO2 nanoparticles and the feasibility of two different encapsulation techniques, a colloidal approach and chemical synthesis nucleation, were compared. Nanomatrices and core–shell nanocapsules were obtained and thoroughly characterized in terms of their wet physicochemical features (particle size distribution and ζ-potential measurements) and TEM morphology. The colloidal and morphological identification of the samples produced served as a basis for assessing their biological reactivity (reported in subsequent publications).