International Journal of Nanomedicine (Feb 2020)
Green Synthesis of Zeolite/Fe2O3 Nanocomposites: Toxicity & Cell Proliferation Assays and Application as a Smart Iron Nanofertilizer
Abstract
Hossein Jahangirian, 1 Roshanak Rafiee-Moghaddam, 1 Narges Jahangirian, 2 Bahareh Nikpey, 3 Siavash Jahangirian, 4 Nicole Bassous, 1 Bahram Saleh, 1 Katayoon Kalantari, 1 Thomas J Webster 1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA; 2Instrumentation and Control Department, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, IA University, Tehran North Branch (TNB), Tehran, Iran; 3Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Engineering and Agriculture, Science and Research Branch, IA University, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, IA University, Tehran, IranCorrespondence: Hossein JahangirianDepartment of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USATel +1 617 860 8429Email [email protected]: The aim of this study was to prepare zeolite/iron (III) oxide nanocomposites (zeolite/Fe 2O 3–NCs) as a smart fertilizer to improve crop yield and soil productivity.Methods: Zeolite/Fe 2O 3–NCs were successfully produced by loading of Fe 2O 3-NPs onto the zeolite surface using a quick green precipitation method. The production of zeolite/Fe 2O 3 nanocomposites was performed under a mild condition using environmentally friendly raw materials as a new green chemistry method. The product was characterized using several techniques such as near and far Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Results: The results confirmed the formation of Fe 2O 3-NPs with mean particle sizes of 1.45, 2.19, and 2.20 nm on the surface of the zeolite per amount of 4, 7 and 12 wt% Fe 2O 3–NPs, respectively. Such results indicated that the size of the Fe 2O 3-NPs did not significantly change when Fe amounts increased from 7 to 12 wt% for the zeolite/Fe 2O 3–NCs. In terms of medical applications, in vitro cell studies demonstrated that zeolites and zeolite/Fe 2O 3–NCs were generally non-toxic to human fibroblast cells and significantly pernicious to human malignant melanoma cells. From MTS cytotoxicity assays, the concentration of Fe 2O 3 within the zeolite/Fe 2O 3–NCs that was effective at inhibiting the growth of malignant melanoma cells by 50% (the IC50 value) was ∼ 14.9 wt%. The three types of nanocomposites were further tested as an iron smart nanofertilizer for the slow-release of iron ions.Conclusion: Advantages of this project include the production of non-toxic nanocomposites as a smart fertilizer to develop crops while the reaction involves the use of commercial and natural materials as low-cost raw materials with low energy usage due to a mild reaction condition, as well as the use of an environmentally friendly solvent (water) with no toxic residues.Keywords: green chemistry, iron (III) oxide nanoparticles, zeolite, zeolite/iron (III) oxide nanocomposites, smart nanofertilizer, melanoma, cell proliferation assays
