engleski

Effect of surface coating on nanoparticle stability and fate in high strength electrolytes – silver nanoparticles in marine waters

Much of the early work on the characterisation of nanomaterials focused on pristine nanomaterials in simple matrices such as ultrapure or freshwater. Characterisation of nanoparticles in more complex matrices such as physiological fluids has not had the same level of attention paid to it and analysing nanoparticles in such matrices remains a significant challenge. While some methods for the extraction of nanoparticles from confounding matrices have been brought to bear, they are relatively harsh leading to the nanoparticles or their (bio)surface coating being modified as a result of the extraction process. Hence, the characteristics of extracted nanoparticles that are ultimately determined are not the same as when they were originally in the matrix. This has a critical impact on toxicity studies as these extracted nanomaterials are ultimately only proxies for the original biological identity of the nanomaterial that would have been encountered by living organisms. To investigate the role of a bio-corona in a complex matrix, we have studied bovine serum albumin-coated silver nanoparticles as a proxy for probing the impact of a bio-coating on nanoparticle behaviour and fate in high strength electrolyte solutions. We have found that bovine serum albumin (BSA) stabilizes silver nanoparticles in high strength electrolytes, with the stabilisation effect increasing with both ionic strength and BSA concentration. The ion release kinetics of the dissolution of silver nanoparticles is significantly lower in the presence of BSA and may be related to BSA suppressing ion release or acting as a store for silver ions and hence the measured quantity of ions released in solution is misleading. Thus understanding the impact of a bio-corona on nanoparticle behaviour in complex matrices is a key preliminary factor that must be considered when modelling nanoparticle fate and investigating their toxic potential in real life scenarios.

silver nanoparticle ; protein ; biocorona ; stabilization ; seawater

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