Waste to health: Ag-LTA zeolites obtained by green synthesis from diatom and rice-based residues with antitumoral activity

Abstract

Abstract An eco-friendly approach to obtain LTA-type zeolites has been developed using biosilica-based sources derived from industrial wastes, rice husks and diatoms. Both are residues derived from the milling industry with no commercial value. The type of silica was determined in the synthesis of LTA-type zeolites with relative crystallinities of 98 and 48% and cubic crystal sizes of 1.2 and 2.5 μm, respectively. The LTA zeolites and their silver-exchanged derivatives were evaluated for the first time to treat the human bladder cancer cell line T24. The Ag-LTA synthesized with rice husks, diatoms, or commercial silica materials have a vital role of the cytotoxicity of the T24 human bladder cells with reduction of cell viability of 77, 69 and 50%, respectively. The significance of this work lies in the fact that industrial wastes can be transformed into potential zeolitic materials applied in fields not usually explored, such as biomedical, for new anticancer therapies.