Shape control of inorganic nanocrystals is important for understanding basic size- and shape-dependent scaling laws and is useful in a wide range of applications. With minor modifications in the chemical environment, it is possible to control the reaction and diffusion processes at room temperature, opening up a synthetic route for the production of polymetallic hollow nanoparticles with very different morphology and composition, obtained by the simultaneous or sequential action of galvanic replacement and the Kirkendall effect.

BackgroundIn nanotoxicology, the exact role of particle shape, in relation to the composition, on the capacity to induce toxicity is largely unknown. We investigated the toxic and immunotoxic effects of silver wires (length: 1.5 - 25 μm; diameter 100 - 160 nm), spherical silver nanoparticles (30 nm) and silver microparticles (<45 μm) on alveolar epithelial cells (A549).MethodsWires and nanoparticles were synthesized by wet-chemistry methods and extensively characterized. Cell viability and cytotoxicity were assessed and potential immunotoxic effects were investigated. To compare the effects on an activated and a resting immune system, cells were stimulated with rhTNF-α or left untreated. Changes in intracellular free calcium levels were determined using calcium imaging. Finally, ion release from the particles was assessed by ICP-MS and the effects of released ions on cell viability and cytotoxicity were tested.ResultsNo effects were observed for the spherical particles, whereas the silver wires significantly reduced cell viability and increased LDH release from A549 cells. Cytokine promoter induction and NF-κB activation decreased in a concentration dependent manner similar to the decrease seen in cell viability. In addition, a strong increase of intracellular calcium levels within minutes after addition of wires was observed. This toxicity was not due to free silver ions, since the samples with the highest ion release did not induce toxicity and ion release control experiments with cells treated with pre-incubated medium did not show any effects either.ConclusionsThese data showed that silver wires strongly affect the alveolar epithelial cells, whereas spherical silver particles had no effect. This supports the hypothesis that shape is one of the important factors that determine particle toxicity.

Growth in production and use of nanoparticles (NPs) will result increased concentrations of these in industrial and urban wastewaters and, consequently, in wastewater-treatment facilities. The effect of this increase on the performance of the wastewater-treatment process has not been studied systematically and including all the microbial communities involved in wastewater treatment. The present work investigates, by using respiration tests and biogas-production analysis, the inhibitory effect of four different commonly used metal oxide (CeO(2) and TiO(2)) and zero-valent metal (Ag and Au) nanoparticles on the activity of the most important microbial communities present in a modern wastewater-treatment plant. Specifically, the actions of ordinary heterotrophic organisms, ammonia oxidizing bacteria, and thermophilic and mesophilic anaerobic bacteria were tested in the presence and absence of the nanoparticles. In general, CeO(2) nanoparticles caused the greatest inhibition in biogas production (nearly 100%) and a strong inhibitory action of other biomasses; Ag nanoparticles caused an intermediate inhibition in biogas production (within 33-50%) and a slight inhibition in the action of other biomasses, and Au and TiO(2) nanoparticles caused only slight or no inhibition for all tested biomasses.