Abstract
Morphologically controllable synthesis of Rh nanoparticles (NPs) was achieved by the use of additives during polyol synthesis. The effect of salts and surfactant additives including PVP, sodium acetate, sodium citrate, CTAB, CTAC, and potassium bromide on Rh NPs morphology was investigated. When PVP was used as the only additive, trigonal NPs were obtained. Additives containing Br− ions (CTAB and KBr) resulted in NPs with a cubic morphology, while those with carboxyl groups (sodium citrate and acetate) formed spheroid NPs. The use of Cl− ions (CTAC) resulted in a mixture of polygon morphologies. Cytotoxicity of these NPs was evaluated on macrophages and ovarian cancer cell lines. Membrane integrity and cellular activity are both influenced to a similar extent, for both the cell lines, with respect to the morphology of Rh NPs. The cells exposed to trigonal Rh NPs showed the highest viability, among the NP series. Particles with a mixed polygon morphology had the highest cytotoxic impact, followed by cubic and spherical NPs. The Rh NPs were further demonstrated as contrast agents for X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) in a small-animal imaging setting. This work provides a detailed route for the synthesis, morphology control, and characterization of Rh NPs as viable contrast agents for XFCT bio-imaging.
Highlights
Like noble metals Pt and Pd, Rh nanomaterials have caught increasing attention due to applications in catalysis, photonics, and biosensors [1,2,3,4]
We recently demonstrated the potential use of Rh NPs as X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT) contrast agents [16,17]
We present a systematic study on the effect of halide ions and carboxyl salts on the morphology of Rh NPs by one-pot polyol synthesis
Summary
Like noble metals Pt and Pd, Rh nanomaterials have caught increasing attention due to applications in catalysis, photonics, and biosensors [1,2,3,4]. Catalytic properties are associated with the active sites, which is reflected by the spatial shape and exposed crystal facets of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) [5]. Nanomaterials reveal an inherent correlation between toxicity and their surface properties within biological applications [7,8,9,10]. Metallic nanomaterials, including Ag and Au, show biocompatibility with a strong dependence on particle size, morphology, and surface properties [11]. The toxicity of Rh NPs as a function of their particle morphology has been rarely discussed in the literature [12]. It is, scientifically important to explore Rh NPs’ morphological effects in connection with their potential biological applications
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