Zn-modified In2O3 nanoparticles: Facile synthesis, characterization, and selective cytotoxicity against human cancer cells

Abstract

Oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted considerable interest owing to their unique characteristics and possible applications, including gas detection, bioanalytical sensing, catalytic, and biomedical. The present work was designed to explore the effect of varying amounts (2.5 %, 5 %, and 7.5 mol%) of Zn-doping on the properties and selective anticancer efficacy of In2O3 NPs. The precipitation process was applied to prepare pure In2O3 NPs and Zn-doped In2O3 NPs. XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, XPS, UV–Vis, and PL techniques have been employed to investigate the physicochemical properties of NPs. The XRD analysis revealed that the crystallite of the In2O3 lattice was slightly changed with the addition of Zn ions. TEM and SEM images displayed that the reduction of size of In2O3 NPs was increased with increasing Zn concentrations. The composition elements and distribution of Zn dopants within In2O3 NPs were further confirmed by EDX and XPS techniques. Based on the UV–Vis study, increasing the Zn amount improved the gap energy of In2O3 NPs by shifting edge absorption peaks to lower wavelengths. Moreover, PL spectra show that the intensity of In2O3 NPs decreased with increasing the Zn amount. The biological results indicate that the Zn-doped In2O3 NPs exhibited a significant increase in cytotoxicity with Zn doping increased against MCF-7 and HCT116cells while they have excellent biocompatibility with normal human cells (HUVECs). These results suggest that these NPs hold promise as a novel therapeutic approach in cancer treatment. This study requires more research into the biological applications of Zn-doped In2O3 NPs.