Direct Sol-gel Method Research Articles

H2Ti6O13 Nanosheet/ Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) for the adsorption of cesium ions

Radioactive Cs+ is one of the most dangerous environmental pollutants. It is necessary for radioactive Cs+ management and removal. Titanium-type cesium ion sieve with a strong Ti–O bond has the advantages of structural stability, radiation resistance and no secondary contamination, which is a promising adsorbent material. In this paper, The CTO (Cs2Ti6O13) is prepared for the first time by sol-gel and de-templating methods, and cesium ion sieves (HTO/PMMA) are further obtained with diluted HCl elution. Compared with the ionic sieves (HTO) prepared by direct sol-gel method, the adsorption capacity is improved from 224.32 mg/g to 299.15 mg/g. The prepared HTO/PMMA has a larger specific surface area (67.282 m2/g). More exchange sites are provided for the adsorption of Cs ions. Moreover, Adsorption involves the cleavage of O–H bonds and the formation of O–Cs bonds, which is a typical ion exchange reaction. A series of batch experiments are carried out. The results showed that the equilibrium adsorption capacity of HTO/PMMA is 307.69 mg/g and remained high in the interfering ion solution as well (280.38 mg/g). The pseudo second order model and Freundlich model can well describe the ion exchange process. Thermodynamic study shows that adsorption is spontaneous and exothermic, and low temperature is conducive to adsorption in H+- Cs+ exchange system. Finally, the reusability of HTO/PMMA is evaluated. The adsorption capacity did not decrease significantly after 5 cycles of use. Therefore, HTO/PMMA is expected to be an excellent material for recovering radioactive Cs+.

Enhancement of the thermal stability for MCM-48 with incorporation of different metals

The incorporation of different metal types (Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, and Cu) on MCM-48 synthesized by the direct sol-gel method was investigated. In this work, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was used as a silica source, whereas cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) was employed as a structure directing agent. The molar ratio of Silicon/metal was kept at 45. The obtained samples were characterized by XRD, N2 physisorption, SEM, and UV-VIS techniques. It revealed that Fe, Mn, and Zn incorporated into the framework of MCM-48 resulted in increased thickness of the pore wall, leading to better thermal stability than pure MCM-48. In contrast, the agglomeration of metal oxides, and the nature of aluminum perhaps lead to the decreased thickness of the pore wall in MCM-48 and consequently lower thermal stability. Additionally, the findings indicate that when the thickness of the pore wall is approximately 1.3 nm onward, the thermal stability of metal-incorporated MCM-48 will be improved.

Influence of the Porous Structure of V2O5-ZrO2-SiO2 Catalyst on Reaction of Propane Dehydrogenation

A spherically granular, amorphous, mesoporous catalyst was obtained by supporting V2O5 on synthesized by direct sol-gel method of ZrO2-SiO2 hydrogel and was identified by SEM, XRD and N2 adsorption / desorption. It is shown that its hydrothermal and alcohol treatment increases the specific surface, volume and width of pores and leads to an increase in the yield of propylene in the reaction of propane dehydrogenation and decreases the temperature of reaching its high values.

Formation and textural characterization of size-controlled LaFeO3 perovskite nanoparticles for efficient photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants

A series of LaFeO3 perovskite nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully formed by a direct sol-gel method involving different citric acid to metal ratios of x (where x = 2–16). The resulted precursors were treated via auto-combustion, followed by calcination at different temperatures (300–700 °C). Size-controlled LaFeO3 NPs were getting smaller down to 18.8 nm at high citric acid ratio, showing relatively high surface area up to 27.6 m2/g . Photocatalytic activity of the formed LaFeO3 NPs was explored for methylene blue (MB) degradation in the absence and presence of 0.5 mM H2O2 under light irradiation. Results showed that variation of citric acid to metal ratio alter the band gap and reduce the photo-generated charge carriers recombination of LaFeO3 NPs. Moreover, the LFC4-500 material (LaFeO3 synthesized using × = 4, and calcined at 500 °C) was the most active photocatalyst in solution at pH = 3 and 0.5 mM H2O2, with the highest efficiency > 99% within 30 min and showed excellent reusability without etching even after several cycles. Significantly, the LaFeO3 NPs characteristics were correlated with their synthesis conditions and the type of interaction with citric acid during initial stages of crystal formation.

Influence of monomers and solvents in the direct sol-gel synthesis of LiNO3 shape stabilized phase change materials

Sol-gel techniques based on silicon dioxide SiO2 have been proposed for encapsulation of organic phase change materials (PCMs), avoiding phase segregation, and enhancing its thermal properties. Otherwise, the encapsulation of inorganic PCMs by direct sol-gel method has barely been applied for this purpose. Moreover, the evaluation of synthesis parameters (monomers, solvents, temperature and monomer/crosslinker ratio, among other) has never been done in order to improve the performance of the inorganic shape stabilized phase change materials (SS-PCMs) obtained by this technique. In this work, tetraethyl orthosilicate, trimethoxy [3-(methylamino)propyl] silane, (3-glycidyloxypropyl) trimethoxysilane and trimethoxy (2-phenylethyl) silane were employed as monomers for synthesis; and ethanol, acetonitrile and cyclohexane were used as solvent, for the evaluation of the sol-gel process. LiNO3 was selected as PCM, estimating the salt content of 50 and 70 wt% in the final material. Samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The achievement of LiNO3 SS-PCM was confirmed by XRD; while a mixed composite of the lithium salt and SiO2 particles was observed by SEM, with a morphology depending not only in the employed monomers but in the PCM content. High values of latent heat (206.2 J g−1) were achieved during the SS-PCM synthesis with ethanol, 70 wt% of PCM content and employing only TEOS as monomers; and a reduction in latent range RL, respect to the pure LiNO3 salt, was observed. The thermal performance of the materials demonstrated its potential as SS-PCM for medium-temperature thermal energy storage applications.

Preparation and Characterization of Transparent Semiconducting Silica Nanocomposites Doped with P2O5 and Al2O3

A silicate (SiO2) doped with two different dopants P2O5 and Al2O3 were prepared using a direct sol-gel method and calcined at 400 °C. XRD and FTIR spectra of films were measured. The addition of dopant and their ability to eliminate (OH−) groups affected the examined features of doped silica films. The optical results for SiO2, 4Al2O3:6SiO2, and 4P2O5:6SiO2 reveal that the dopant type has explicit influences on the high transparency silica film and their optical properties. The index of refraction (n), absorption coefficient (α), and the relative permittivity (dielectric constant (e)) were concluded using evaluations of the reflectance and transmittance spectra.

Optimized Nb-Based Zeolites as Catalysts for the Synthesis of Succinic Acid and FDCA.

Nb(0.05 moles%)-zeolites prepared via a post synthesis methodology (BEA, Y, ZSM-5), or a direct sol-gel method (Silicalite-1) were investigated in the hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) oxidation by both molecular oxygen, in aqueous phase, and organic peroxides, in acetonitrile. The catalysts prepared through the post synthesis methodology (i.e., Nb-Y5, Nb-ZSM25, Nb-Y30, Nb-BEA12, and Nb-BEA18) displayed a mono-modal mesoporosity and contain residual framework Al-acid sites, extra framework isolated Nb(V)O-H and Nb2O5 pore-encapsulated clusters, while Nb-Sil-1, prepared through a direct synthesis procedure, displayed a bimodal micro-mesoporosity and contains only –Nb=O species. These modified zeolites behave as efficient catalysts in both HMF/glucose wet oxidation to succinic acid (SA) and HMF oxidation with organic peroxides to the 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The catalytic behavior of these catalysts, in terms of conversion and especially the selectivity, mainly depended on the base/acid sites ratio. Thus, the HMF/glucose wet oxidation occurred with a total conversion and a selectivity to SA of 37.7% (from HMF) or 69.1% (from glucose) on the Nb-Y5 catalyst, i.e., the one with the lowest base/acid sites ratio. On the contrary, the catalysts with the highest base/acid sites ratio, i.e., Nb-ZSM25 and Nb-Sil-1, afforded a high catalytic efficiency in HMF oxidation with organic peroxides, in which FDCA was produced with selectivities of 61.3–63.8% for an HMF conversion of 96.7–99.0%.

Sol-gel prepared vanadium oxide for photocatalytic degradation of Methylene Blue dye

Abstract In the present work vanadium oxide (V2O5) was prepared by simple and direct sol–gel method by using ammonium metavanadate as precursor in the presence of ammonia as complexing agent. For structural and morphological analysis of V2O5 different characterization techniques were used. X-Ray Diffraction and Fourier Transform Spectroscopy were used for structural identification and functional group detection. The morphology of prepared material was studied by Scanning Electron microscopy technique. For band gap measurement (optical study) of V2O5, the UV–Visible Spectrophotometer techniques were used. Finally the Photocatalytic activity of the calcinated product for Methylene Blue (MB) dye was studied. The percentage of degradation and rate constant also calculated. The present work shows the good photocatalytic activity of V2O5 for hazardous MB dye and degradation take place in this case is about 75%. Thus V2O5 is promising material for photocatalytic activity.

Red aggregation-induced emission luminogen and Gd3+ codoped mesoporous silica nanoparticles as dual-mode probes for fluorescent and magnetic resonance imaging

Fluorescence imaging and magnetic resonance imaging have been research hotspots for adjuvant therapy and diagnosis. However, traditional fluorescent probes or contrast agents possess insurmountable weaknesses. In this work, we reported the preparation of dual-mode probes based on mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs), which were doped with an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye and Gd3+ through a direct sol-gel method. In this system, the obtained materials emitted strong red fluorescence, in which the maximum emission wavelength was located at 669 nm, and could be applied as effective fluorescence probes for fluorescence microscopy imaging. Furthermore, the introduction of Gd3+ made the nanoparticles effective contrast agents when applied in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging because they could improve the contrast of MR imaging. The excellent biocompatibility of these nanoparticles, as demonstrated via a typical CCK-8 assay, and their performance in fluorescence cell imaging and MR imaging shows their potential for applications in biomedical imaging.

Design of synthesis route for inorganic shape-stabilized phase change materials. Direct sol–gel process versus vacuum impregnation method

Recently, sol–gel techniques for synthesize inorganic shape-stabilized phase change materials (SS-PCMs) were proposed to successfully improve thermal properties and to accomplish real applications for latent thermal energy storage (TES). In this work, the use of sol–gel process was deeply investigated to develop inorganic SS-PCM, using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as monomer and Na2SO4.10H2O as phase change material (PCM). In addition, the influence of pH (acid and basic hydrolysis) and PCM content in the physic and thermal properties of achieved materials were analyzed. Stabilized materials were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy, scanning differential calorimetry, and thermogravimetry. The characterization results established that direct sol–gel method via acid hydrolysis showed potential to develop inorganic SS-PCMs. However, results indicate that the Na2SO4.10H2O loses water molecules during synthesis, resulting in the anhydrous compound Na2SO4-SiO2; therefore, materials were proposed for high temperature TES applications. Melting point of 880–886 °C and enthalpy of fusion of 23–100 kJ kg−1 were obtained for materials with 20–60 wt.% of PCM content. The new obtained SS-PCMs have enhanced thermal properties, compared with anhydrous Na2SO4: latent storage range RL among 0.1–3.0 °C and thermal cycle stability, for high TES. In addition, direct sol–gel technique was compared with vacuum impregnation method, employing SiO2 as support material. Impregnation procedures were not successfully achieved in this work to stabilize the PCM, which prove the superior significance of direct sol–gel method.

Large-scale study for the photocatalytic degradation of paracetamol using Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposite catalyst and CPC reactor under natural sunlight radiations

Heterogeneous photocatalysis is a promising advanced oxidation process for the degradation of emerging contaminants. In this regard, Hematite (α-Fe2O3) doped TiO2 nanocomposite catalyst was synthesized via sol-gel method. The catalyst was prepared in large quantities (225 g) comparatively with other studies and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), and nitrogen gas physisorption studies. The bandgap of the synthesized catalyst was determined using UV–vis diffused reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and the point of zero charge (PZC) was identified by measuring the zeta potential (ζ-potential) of the nanoparticles. A large-scale study was conducted using a modified Compound Parabolic Collector Reactor (CPCR) for the degradation of paracetamol under natural sunlight irradiations. The operating parameters including the initial concentration of paracetamol, initial pH of the solution, and catalyst loading were optimized using face-centered central composite design (FCCD) based on response surface method (RSM) to obtain the maximum degradation efficiency of paracetamol.•The simplified and direct sol-gel method described helps in the synthesis of a novel nanocomposite catalyst (Fe2O3/TiO2) in large quantities while maintaining good characteristics compared to other methods.•The described treatment method using the modified CPCR will allow the degradation of paracetamol in a more sustainable and green manner.•Optimizing the operating parameters that have a significant influence on the degradation of paracetamol will contribute towards higher degradation rates.

Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic N-Doped TiO2 for Degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA) and Reactive Black 5 (RB5) Dye

Bisphenol A (BPA) and reactive black 5 (RB5) dye are among the most persistent and non-biodegradable contaminants in water which require an urgent need for the development of effective removal method. The ubiquitous existence of both contaminants could interfere with the human health and aquatic environmental balance. Photocatalytic process as one of advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has shown high performance for degradation of organic compounds to the harmless materials under sensible condition. Therefore, this study aims to develop a visible-light-driven photocatalyst that can efficiently degrade BPA and RB5 present in household water. N-doped TiO2 were successfully synthesized via simple and direct sol–gel method. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized by field emission scanning microscope (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and Brunauere Emmette Teller (BET) analysis. The incorporation of nitrogen in TiO2 lattice exhibited excellent optical responses to visible region as revealed by UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy absorption capability at 400–600 nm. The photocatalytic activity of the N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles was measured by photocatalytic degradation of BPA and RB5 in an aqueous solution under visible-light irradiations. Degradation of BPA and RB5 was 91.3% and 89.1%, respectively after 360 min illumination. The degradation of BPA and RB5 by N-doped TiO2 was increased up to 89.8% and 88.4%, respectively under visible-light irradiation as compared to commercial TiO2 P25. This finding clearly shows that N-doped TiO2 exhibits excellent photocatalytic degradation of BPA and RB5 under visible irradiation, hence have a promising potential in removing various recalcitrant contaminants for water treatment to fulfill the public need to consume clean water.

AIEgens functionalized gadolinium-based aminoclay as dual-modal probes for fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging

Developing a nanoscale drug delivery system with fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to optimize the imaging guided therapy has attracted great attentions in the area of nanomedicine. The aminopropyl functionalized gadolinium phyllosilicate (AGP) was prepared using one-pot direct sol-gel method. Then aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) tetraphenylethene were modified onto AGP by post-grafting method via carbon nitrogen bond to form AIEgens functionalized nanomaterials. The obtained materials show strong blue emission centered at 480 nm and well dispersibility in water, which can be used as an effective luminescent bioprobe for intracellular imaging. Furthermore, the nanomaterials can be also used as MRI probes due to their enhanced signal intensity with increasing concentration of gadolinium ion, showing potential application in biomedical imaging.

Effect of cobalt loading on suppression of carbon formation in carbon dioxide reforming of methane over Co/MgO catalyst

Carbon dioxide reforming of methane was studied over Co/MgO catalyst which was prepared by using the direct sol–gel method with different Co loadings. The performance of Co/MgO catalyst was thoroughly investigated over methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) conversions, CO and H2 selectivity, syngas ratio (H2:CO) and the rate of carbon deposition. The rate of carbon deposition of Co/MgO catalyst decreased with the lower Co content, which resulted in the formation of small metal crystal size and well distribution. The rate of carbon deposition increased from 0.0016 to 0.2227 gc/gcat h as the Co loadings of Co/MgO catalyst also increased from 10 to 25 mol%. High Co loading formed a weak interaction and larger particles size that promoted the carbon deposition on Co/MgO catalyst during the reaction. The Co/MgO catalyst with 10 mol% of Co loading posed the small particle sizes, which resulted in high CH4 and CO2 conversions of 80 and 86%, respectively, along with the lowest rate of carbon deposition after a 50 h reaction time stream, which was enhanced via strong metal support interaction.

Photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction to fuels in continuous flow monolith photoreactor using montmorillonite dispersed Fe/TiO2 nanocatalyst

Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 to fuels has attracted immense attention because it offers a cleaner energy technology and safer environment. In this study, performance of structured montmorillonite (MMT) dispersed Fe-doped titanium dioxide (Fe/TiO2) nanocomposite was tested for dynamic photo-induced CO2 reduction by H2 to fuels. Cordierite monolithic support was employed in order to improve the photo-activity and reusability of Fe-MMT/TiO2 nanocomposite in a CO2 utilization process. MMT-clay supported Fe/TiO2 samples were prepared by a controlled and direct sol-gel method and were dip-coated over the monolith micro-channels. The efficiency of Fe-loaded MMT/TiO2 for CO2 reduction by H2 toward CO was investigated using a cell type and a monolith photo-reactor under UV-light. The maximum CO yield over 3 wt % Fe-10 wt % MMT-loaded TiO2 catalyst reached 166 μmole g-catal.−1 h−1 at selectivity 99.70%, considerably higher than the amount of CO produced over the MMT/TiO2 (16 μmole g-catal.−1 h−1) and the pure TiO2 (5 μmole g-catal.−1 h−1) catalysts. The other products observed with adequate amounts were CH4 and C2H6. More importantly, photo-activity and stability of Fe-MMT/TiO2 catalyst for CO evolution was significantly improved using monolith photo-reactor compared to the cell type reactor under the same operating conditions. This enactment was evidently due to higher quantum efficiency of monolith photoreactor, improved adsorption-desorption process in a catalyst coated monolith channels and hindered charges recombination by Fe. The reusability of catalyst loaded over the monolithic support showed greater recycling capability than the catalyst dispersed in a cell reactor. This development confirmed higher photo-activity of Fe-MMT/TiO2 photo-catalyst loaded over monolithic support for CO2 photo-reduction to cleaner fuels.

Enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue: Preparation of TiO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites by direct sol-gel and hydrothermal methods

In this study, two different preparation methods of titanium dioxide nanoparticles/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites were investigated using direct sol-gel method followed by hydrothermal treatment or simple hydrothermal route. A different amount of graphene (1- 20%) was mixed with TiO2 for both series of samples in order to improve the photocatalytic activity. The influence of the preparation method on the physico-chemical properties was established by different characterization methods and the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB) under UV light irradiation was used as test reaction. The highest photocatalytic activity was observed for the nanocomposites containing 10wt% of graphene. The elimination of MB can reach 93% and 82% for the nanocomposites with 10wt% graphene prepared by the sol-gel and hydrothermal methods, respectively. These photocatalysts are promising for practical application in nanotechnology.

Selective photocatalytic reduction of CO2 by H2O/H2 to CH4 and CH3OH over Cu-promoted In2O3/TiO2 nanocatalyst

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction by H2O and/or H2 reductant to selective fuels over Cu-promoted In2O3/TiO2 photocatalyst has been investigated. The samples, prepared via a simple and direct sol-gel method, were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, N2 adsorption-desorption, UV–vis diffuse reflectance, Raman and PL spectroscopy. Cu and In loaded into TiO2, oxidized as Cu2+ and In3+, promoted efficient separation of photo-generated electron/hole pairs (e−/h+). The results indicate that the reduction rate of CO2 by H2O to CH4 approached to 181μmolg−1h−1 using 0.5% Cu-3% In2O3/TiO2 catalyst, a 1.53 fold higher than the production rate over the 3% In2O3/TiO2 and 5 times the amount produced over the pure TiO2. In addition, Cu was found to promote efficient production of CH3OH and yield rate reached to 68μmolg−1h−1 over 1% Cu-3% In2O3/TiO2 catalyst. This improvement was attributed to charge transfer property and suppressed recombination rate by Cu-metal. More importantly, H2 reductant was less favorable for CH4 production, yet a significant amount of CH4 and CH3OH were obtained using a mixture of H2O/H2 reductant. Therefore, Cu-loaded In2O3/TiO2 catalyst has shown to be capable for methanol production, whereas product selectivity was greatly depending on the amount of Cu-loading and the type of reductant. A photocatalytic reaction mechanism was proposed to understand the experimental results over the Cu-loaded In2O3/TiO2 catalyst.

Photodegradation of phenol by N-Doped TiO2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microsphere under UV and visible light irradiation

N-doped TiO2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microspheres were successfully synthesized via a simple and direct sol–gel method containing titanium-n-butoxide Ti(OBu)4 as a precursor material, nitric acid as a catalyst, and isopropanol as a solvent. By manipulating calcination temperature, the photocatalyst consisting of different phase compositions of anatase and rutile was obtained. The prepared TiO2 nanoparticles were characterized by means of x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) analysis, UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy, and fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The results from UV–Vis–NIR spectroscopy and FTIR revealed the direct incorporation of nitrogen in TiO2 lattice since visible absorption capability was observed at 400–600 nm. XPS study indicated the incorporation of nitrogen as dopant in TiO2 at binding energies of 396.8, 397.5, 398.7, 399.8, and 401 eV. Calcination temperature was observed to have a great influence on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 nanorods. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared mixed phase of anatase/rutile TiO2 nanoparticles was measured by photodegradation phenol in an aqueous solution under UV and visible irradiations. N-doped TiO2 anatase/rutile nanorods assembled microsphere (consists of 38.3% anatase and 61.7% rutile) that was prepared at 400 °C exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity after irradiated under visible and UV light for 540 min. The high performance of photocatalyst materials could be obtained by adopting a judicious combination of anatase/rutile prepared at optimum calcination conditions.

3-aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate as an organoclay based drug carrier for improving the bioavailability of flurbiprofen

This study aimed to develop an oral delivery system using clay-based organic–inorganic hybrid materials to improve the bioavailability of the drug, flurbiprofen, which is poorly soluble in water. 3-aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (AMP clay) was synthesized by a one-pot direct sol-gel method, and then flurbiprofen (FB) was incorporated into AMP clay (FB-AMP) at different drug/clay ratios. The structural characteristics of AMP and FB-AMP formulation were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Among tested formulations, FB-AMP(3), dramatically increased the dissolution of FB and achieved rapid and complete drug release within 2 hours. More than 60% of FB was released from FB-AMP(3) after 30 minutes; the drug was completely dissolved in the water within 2 hours. Under the acidic condition (pH 1.2), FB-AMP(3) also increased the dissolution of FB by up to 47.1% within 1 hour, which was three-fold higher than that of untreated FB. Furthermore, following an oral administration of FB-AMP(3) to Sprague-Dawley rats, the peak plasma concentration and area under the plasma concentration-time curve of FB increased two-fold, and the time to reach the peak plasma concentration was shortened compared with that in the untreated FB. This result suggests that the oral drug delivery system using clay-based organic–inorganic hybrid material might be useful to improve the bioavailability of FB.

Magnesium and Calcium Organophyllosilicates: Synthesis and In vitro Cytotoxicity Study

Synthesis of multifunctional hybrid nanomaterials for biomedical applications has received great attention. Herein, we examine the potential toxicity of organophyllosilicates on cells from different organs such as A549 (lung epithelial cancer), HT-29 (colon epithelial cancer), MRC-5 (lung fibroblast) and CCD-986sk (skin fibroblast) cells. For this, aminopropyl functionalized magnesium phyllosilicate (AMP clay) and aminopropyl functionalized calcium phyllosilicate (ACP clay) were prepared using one-pot direct sol-gel method. Toxic effects of these organoclays on normal fibroblast and tumor cells were examined under varying concentrations and exposure times. MTT and LDH assays indicated that both organoclays had little cytotoxicity in all of the cells tested at concentrations as high as 500 μg/mL. Even at high concentration (1000 μg/mL), the toxicity of both organoclays on cell viability and membrane damage was not severe and appeared to be cell type specific. In addition, organoclays did not induce apoptosis at concentrations as high as 1000 μg/mL.