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Safe‐by‐Design Ligand‐Coated ZnO Nanocrystals Engineered by an Organometallic Approach: Unique Physicochemical Properties and Low Toxicity toward Lung Cells
Author(s) -
WolskaPietkiewicz Małgorzata,
Tokarska Katarzyna,
Grala Agnieszka,
Wojewódzka Anna,
Chwojnowska Elżbieta,
Grzonka Justyna,
Cywiński Piotr J.,
Kruczała Krzysztof,
Sojka Zbigniew,
Chudy Michał,
Lewiński Janusz
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201704207
Subject(s) - ligand (biochemistry) , biocompatibility , nanocrystal , photoluminescence , materials science , zinc , nanotechnology , quantum yield , luminescence , chemical engineering , chemistry , fluorescence , metallurgy , optoelectronics , quantum mechanics , engineering , biochemistry , receptor , physics
The unique physicochemical properties and biocompatibility of zinc oxide nanocrystals (ZnO NCs) are strongly dependent on the nanocrystal/ligand interface, which is largely determined by synthetic procedures. Stable ZnO NCs coated with a densely packed shell of 2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)acetate ligands, which act as miniPEG prototypes, with average core size and hydrodynamic diameter of 4–5 and about 12 nm, respectively, were prepared by an organometallic self‐supporting approach, fully characterized, and used as a model system for biological studies. The ZnO NCs from the one‐pot, self‐supporting organometallic procedure exhibit unique physicochemical properties such as relatively high quantum yield (up to 28 %), ultralong photoluminescence decay (up to 2.1 μs), and EPR silence under standard conditions. The cytotoxicity of the resulting ZnO NCs toward normal (MRC‐5) and cancer (A549) human lung cell lines was tested by MTT assay, which demonstrated that these brightly luminescent, quantum‐sized ZnO NCs have a low negative impact on mammalian cell lines. These results substantiate that the self‐supporting organometallic approach is a highly promising method to obtain high‐quality, nontoxic, ligand‐coated ZnO NCs with prospective biomedical applications.