The Role Of Dispersion Medium On Nanoparticle Aggregation And Size In Biological Systems

The use of nanomaterials (NMs) in different areas has been rising for more than a decade. Along with this growth, there is visible development of different testing tools and approaches for measuring the actual size of nanomaterials in biological systems. Test conditions during in vitro toxicological assays are different from the standard conditions under which nanomaterials are characterized and careful evaluation of results is needed. The unique properties and range variety of NMs require the close look how the NMs behave in different dispersion medium over time. In this study we present the results of five types of well-characterized NMs (TiO2: NM-101 and NM-103; SiO2: NM-200; Ag: NM-300K and NM-302) of specific size and shape. The hydrodynamic size and Zeta potentials in suspensions were measured using a dynamic light scattering technique (DLS) (Zetasizer Nano ZS, Malvern, UK). The DLS method is suitable for spherical particles; nevertheless, all samples were measured in order to obtain a rough insight into agglomerate formation in the medium. NM300, NM302, and NM200 aggregated rapidly in the media, thus the cells would be most likely exposed to settled big aggregates then small clusters or individual particles. More stable NMs (NM100 and NM103) showed slight grow along with cultivation time or concentration corresponding to cluster formation. Cells exposed to those NMs would be in contact with small clusters and aggregates of NMs. Measured zeta potentials fluctuated around the stability limit corresponding to observed aggregation. This work was supported by the MEYS CR (LO1508).