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Gelatin stabilized mesoporous silica CuInS2/ZnS nanocomposite as a potential near-infrared probe and their effect on cancer cell lines

  • Materials for life sciences
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Abstract

Ternary quantum dots (QDs) are promising inorganic fluorescent probes, especially for bioimaging and optical detection. However, the long-term stability and photostability of these QDs are still challenging. We herein report the synthesis of gelatin (Gel) stabilized mesoporous silica-(Santa Barbara Amorphous (SBA 15)) encapsulated CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots- (SBA-QDs) and its cell viability against A549 and Hela cell lines. The as-synthesized Gel-SBA-QDs composites exhibited improved quantum yield (QY) and high photostability. FTIR spectroscopy and surface charge analysis confirmed the effective capping of gelatin on the SBA QDs. The long-term stability of the SBA QDs was greatly enhanced after the gelatin modification. The TEM analysis confirmed that the material retained its rod shape and ordered pores even after gelatin stabilization. The Gel-SBA-QDs exhibited a photoactivation mechanism where the emission intensity of the composite increased upon exposure to UV light. The cytotoxicity assay indicated that the Gel-SBA-QDs showed good viability against the A549 cell line and dose-dependent viability against the Hela cell line. The improved optical properties, stability, and good cell viability characteristics present the as-synthesized Gel-SBA-QDs as an ideal material for theragnostic applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank National Research Foundation (N.R.F) under Competitive Programmed for Rated Researchers (CPRR), Grant Nos. 106060 and 129290, and University of Johannesburg (URC) and Faculty of Science (FRC) for financial support. We will also like to thank Ms Hendriette van der Walt (Mintek, SA) for the cell viability studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 17011, DoornfonteinJohannesburg, 2028, South Africa

    Jose Varghese Rajendran, Sundararajan Parani, Vasudevan Pillay R. Remya, Thabang C. Lebepe, Rodney Maluleke, Olanrewaju A. Aladesuyi, Sabu Thomas & Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi

  2. Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 17011, Doornfontein, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa

    Jose Varghese Rajendran, Sundararajan Parani, Vasudevan Pillay R. Remya, Thabang C. Lebepe, Rodney Maluleke, Olanrewaju A. Aladesuyi, Sabu Thomas & Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi

  3. International and Inter-University Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India

    Sabu Thomas

Authors
  1. Jose Varghese Rajendran
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  2. Sundararajan Parani
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  3. Vasudevan Pillay R. Remya
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  4. Thabang C. Lebepe
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  5. Rodney Maluleke
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  6. Olanrewaju A. Aladesuyi
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  7. Sabu Thomas
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  8. Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi
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Contributions

JVR contributed to investigation, writing–original draft, and visualization. SP contributed to validation, formal analysis, and writing–review and editing. RVR contributed to formal analysis.RM contributed to formal analysis. TCL contributed to formal analysis. OAA contributed to formal analysis. ST contributed to supervision. OSO contributed to conceptualization, methodology, supervision, validation, resources writing–review and editing, resources, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oluwatobi Samuel Oluwafemi.

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Rajendran, J.V., Parani, S., Pillay R. Remya, V. et al. Gelatin stabilized mesoporous silica CuInS2/ZnS nanocomposite as a potential near-infrared probe and their effect on cancer cell lines. J Mater Sci 57, 11911–11917 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07406-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-022-07406-2

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