Ultra-fast photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B exploiting oleate-stabilized zinc oxide nanoparticles.

Rhodamine B (RhB) is a harmful dye released by industrial wastewaters, thus necessitating its urgent removal. Advanced oxidation processes constitute promising strategies to purify polluted water. Among others, photocatalysis relies on reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by photocatalytic particles, typically semiconductors like titania or zinc oxide (ZnO), excited by solar or UV-Vis light. However, their wide band gap limits their catalytic capabilities within the absorption of the UV spectrum and causes fast electron-hole recombination. This study presents novel strategies to overcome these limitations: (i) doping semiconductors to increase photocatalytic efficiency; (ii) sensitization-mediated photocatalysis for visible light activation using chemical moieties to trap dye molecules; (iii) nanosizing the photocatalysts to enhance the surface area. ZnO nanoparticles, doped with iron or gadolinium and capped with oleic acid are here synthesized and tested in RhB dye solutions. Remarkably, the results demonstrate an ultra-fast RhB degradation, driven by oleic acid having crucial role in dye adsorption. The degradation mechanisms, including ROS-induced N-deethylation and xanthene group cleavage, are also unraveled. These findings underscore the efficacy of the proposed semiconductor photocatalyst design, highlighting a significant advancement with extensive potential applications in wastewater remediation. This innovative approach paves the way for more efficient and practical solutions to combat industrial dye pollution.

Ultrasound-assisted water oxidation: unveiling the role of piezoelectric metal-oxide sonocatalysts for cancer treatment.

Ultrasound radiation has been widely used in biomedical application for both diagnosis and therapy. Metal oxides nanoparticles (NPs), like ZnO or TiO2 NPs, have been widely demonstrated to act as excellent sonocatalysts and significantly enhance cavitation at their surface, making them optimal for sonodynamic cancer therapy. These NPs often possess semiconductive and piezoelectric properties that contribute to the complex phenomena occurring at the water-oxide interface during sonostimulation. Despite the great potential in applied sonocatalysis and water splitting, the complex mechanism that governs the phenomenon is still a research subject. This work investigates the role of piezoelectric ZnO micro- and nano-particles in ultrasound-assisted water oxidation. Three metal oxides presenting fundamental electronic and mechanical differences are evaluated in terms of ultrasound-triggered reactive oxygen species generation in aqueous media: electromechanically inert SiO2 NPs, semiconducting TiO2 NPs, piezoelectric and semiconducting ZnO micro- and nanoparticles with different surface areas and sizes. The presence of silver ions in the aqueous solution was further considered to impart a potential electron scavenging effects and better evaluate the oxygen generation performances of the different structures. Following sonoirradiation, the particles are optically and chemically analyzed to study the effect of sonostimulation at their surface. The production of gaseous molecular oxygen is measured, revealing the potential of piezoelectric particles to generate oxygen under hypoxic conditions typical of some cancer environments. Finally, the best candidates, i.e. ZnO nano and micro particles, were tested on osteosarcoma and glioblastoma cell lines to demonstrate their potential for cancer treatment.

Artificial and Naturally Derived Phospholipidic Bilayers as Smart Coatings of Solid-State Nanoparticles: Current Works and Perspectives in Cancer Therapy.

Recent advances in nanomedicine toward cancer treatment have considered exploiting liposomes and extracellular vesicles as effective cargos to deliver therapeutic agents to tumor cells. Meanwhile, solid-state nanoparticles are continuing to attract interest for their great medical potential thanks to their countless properties and possible applications. However, possible drawbacks arising from the use of nanoparticles in nanomedicine, such as the nonspecific uptake of these materials in healthy organs, their aggregation in biological environments and their possible immunogenicity, must be taken into account. Considering these limitations and the intrinsic capability of phospholipidic bilayers to act as a biocompatible shield, their exploitation for effectively encasing solid-state nanoparticles seems a promising strategy to broaden the frontiers of cancer nanomedicine, also providing the possibility to engineer the lipid bilayers to further enhance the therapeutic potential of such nanotools. This work aims to give a comprehensive overview of the latest developments in the use of artificial liposomes and naturally derived extracellular vesicles for the coating of solid-state nanoparticles for cancer treatment, starting from in vitro works until the up-to-date advances and current limitations of these nanopharmaceutics in clinical applications, passing through in vivo and 3D cultures studies.