Fibrous particles interact with cells and organisms in complex ways that can lead to cellular dysfunction, cell death, inflammation, and disease. The development of conductive transparent networks (CTNs) composed of metallic silver nanowires (AgNWs) for flexible touchscreen displays raises new possibilities for the intimate contact between novel fibers and human skin. Here, we report that a material property, nanowire-bending stiffness that is a function of diameter, controls the cytotoxicity of AgNWs to nonimmune cells from humans, mice, and fish without deterioration of critical CTN performance parameters: electrical conductivity and optical transparency. Both 30- and 90-nm-diameter AgNWs are readily internalized by cells, but thinner NWs are mechanically crumpled by the forces imposed during or after endocytosis, while thicker nanowires puncture the enclosing membrane and release silver ions and lysosomal contents to the cytoplasm, thereby initiating oxidative stress. This finding extends the fiber pathology paradigm and will enable the manufacture of safer products incorporating AgNWs.
Experiments concerning the reduction of diazonium ion to radical species realized on glassy carbon and platinum electrodes allowed p-nitrophenyl grafting on the electrode surfaces electrochemically and by immersion. The grafting has been tested electrochemically in order to find the degree of surface coverage by i) cycling voltammetry of the grafted electrode in CH3CN containing 0.1 mol L-1 TBABF4 in the field of potential characteristic for the activity of the nitro groups reduction and/or by ii) cycling the grafted electrode in a transfer solution containing ferrocene in 0.1 M TBABF4 , CH3CN.
Silver nanowires (AgNW) are new nanomaterials designed to be incorporated into transparent conductive films in electronics, microelectrodes, heated surfaces and others. Although in these films, the AgNW are generally protected by a coating material, a risk for release of silver at all stages of the nanoproduct life cycle does exist due to corrodibility of the metal. Since ionic and nanoparticulate Ag represent a toxicological risk for a large number of living cells, there is a need for quantifying the potential Ag release from these product components. We developed an electrochemical method to evaluate possible corrosion activity of silver in AgNW transparent conductive films (TCFs) and concomitant Ag + release. A polysiloxane polymer was used as protective coating of AgNW TCFs. A consistent correlation is observed between the degree of corrosion and the coatings' characteristics, in particular the thicknesses. A major advantage of the new approach, compared to classical aging studies, is the short experimentation time: 20 min are sufficient for a diagnostic result. The method is an accelerated corrosion and release test. It is green methodology with use of very low electric power and with no harmful reagents. A particularly attractive application could be in the field of environmental risk assessment of metals from portable electronics and biosensors.
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