Structural morphology and in vitro toxicity studies of nano- and micro-sized zinc oxide structures. Issue 1 (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ann, Ling Chuo; Mahmud, Shahrom; Seeni, Azman; Bakhori, Siti Khadijah Mohd; Sirelkhatim, Amna; Mohamad, Dasmawati; Hasan, Habsah
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental chemical engineering. Volume 3:Issue 1(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: 436
• Page End: 444
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: Toxicity -- Zinc oxide -- Morphology -- Structural; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Chemical engineering -- Environmental aspects; Environmental engineering; Periodicals; 660.0286
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2014.12.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2213-2929

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: Different particle sizes and morphologies of ZnO structures were identified. Increasing the concentration of ZnO induced higher toxicity towards cell lines. Toxic effect of nano-sized ZnO structures was due to higher release of zinc ions. Micro-sized ZnO samples had toxicity limits of 0.3 mM at most. Abstract: The structural morphology and in vitro toxicity of nano- and micro-sized ZnO structures were investigated. All the ZnO samples were characterized to determine their morphologies, particle sizes, structures and optical bandgaps. Transmission electron microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy results revealed that the morphologies of nano-sized ZnO-N1 and ZnO-N2 samples consisted of spherical and irregularly-shaped particles, respectively. The corresponding particle sizes were 20–40 nm and 50–80 nm, respectively. The morphologies of micro-sized ZnO-M1 and ZnO-M2 samples were found to be mostly rod-structures and plate-structures, respectively. Rod diameters were 40–100 nm whereas plate widths were 50–150 nm. ZnO-N1 had the highest toxicity towards the cells, causing the cell viability to be less than 70% for all concentration ranges. This phenomenon was due to the small particle size and release of zinc ions. Micro-sized ZnO-M1 and ZnO-M2 samples had toxicity limits of 0.3 mM at most.