Silver, once regarded as a safe noble metal for humans, has been widely used in industrial and commercial products, especially in nanometer biomaterials. It is now well known that Ag is biologically active and is able to interact with the cell membrane, proteins and DNA. However, very little is understood about the potential impacts of Ag at the sub-cellular level. Our work investigated the potential toxicity of Ag on mitochondria isolated from rat livers by examining the mitochondrial morphology, respiration, swelling, membrane fluidity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. We observed that Ag significantly affects the mitochondrial structure and function, including mitochondrial swelling, collapse of the transmembrane potential, change of permeability and fluidity, decline of the respiratory rate, and acceleration of ROS, indicating that Ag should be seriously regarded as a potentially hazardous substance. Moreover, we conclude that Ag injures the mitochondrial structure and function by a nonspecific approach, in which the interaction is unregulated by inherent parts such as the mitochondria permeability transition pore (MPTP). These results help us learn more about the toxicity of Ag at the subcellular (mitochondrial) level and influence future biological and medical applications of Ag-based materials.
The morphological evolution of nanosized Zn–Sn composite oxides, synthesised by the decomposition of ZnSn(OH)6 precursor at temperature ranged from 300 to 800°C was investigated by using XRD and high resolution TEM. The precursor was also studied by thermal analysis. The electrochemical performance of Zn–Sn composite oxides as anode materials for Li ion batteries was measured in the form of Li/Zn–Sn composite oxides cells. The results reveal that the samples calcined at low temperatures (300 and 500°C) were amorphous Zn2SnO4 and SnO2, and the samples calcined at high temperatures (720 and 800°C) were crystal Zn2SnO4 and SnO2. All the samples have a high reversible specific capacity of over 800 mAh g−1, and the first charge specific capacity is up to 903 mAh g−1 for the sample calcined at 500°C. The charge capacity and cyclability were sensitive to the structure and composition of the electrode active materials; the samples calcined at phase transition temperature rage exhibited relatively worse electrochemical properties.
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