Processing antimicrobial CeO2-TiO2 nanocomposite using supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

A nanocomposite powder of cerium and titanium oxide nanoparticles (NPs) was prepared using supercritical CO2. The characterization of the obtained powder showed spheres or quasi-spheres between 68 and 145 nm, depending on the conditions used. In all tests, N2 physisorption analysis showed that the specific surface area of the samples increased between 30 and 100 times more than of the precursors used. With the ultimate goal of using composite oxide powders for the treatment of oral diseases or tissue regeneration, antimicrobial analysis against S. aureus bacteria, present in oral and skin diseases, showed that the (in-liquid) inhibition of the oxide nanocomposites obtained were higher than that of the raw oxides and very close to the inhibition of an antibiotic such as amoxicillin.

Keywords

• Cerium oxide
• Titanium oxide
• Supercritical CO2
• Antimicrobial activity
• S. aureus
• Nanocomposites