Development of a Hybrid Chitosan- and Niacinamide-Coupled ZnO Nanoparticle Composite for Sun Protection Application

Abstract

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) have long been utilized as UV-protective sunscreen components due to their high durability and lower skin irritation while maintaining capability for blocking UV rays. However, the dispersal and transparency properties of ZnO need to be enhanced in order to improve the capacity for creating effective sunscreen through control of the physiochemical properties of ZnO. In this study, chitosan or niacinamide, which are suitable functional cosmetic compounds and effective skin lightening agents, are combined with ZnO for the development of better UV-protective products. Each biocompatible coating material is individually attached on its surface after the synthesis of ZnO. The size is 70 nm using the sol-gel method. Their morphology and chemical structure are characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, and zeta potential. The results indicate that approximately 50% of chitosan and 5% niacinamide were coated on the ZnO. To confirm the capacity of each surface-coated ZnO with chitosan and niacinamide as a sunscreen, we measured their transmission, reflectance, and sun protection factor (SPF) using a UV spectrophotometer and SPF. As a result, the niacinamide-coated ZnO shows remarkably lower transmission and high reflectance against UV rays than that of bare ZnO and chitosan-coated ZnO. Furthermore, niacinamide-coated ZnO exhibits great lightening effects. Consequently, these results demonstrate that niacinamide coating is highly effective for the production of sunscreen emulsions.

Chitosan Nanoparticles in Atherosclerosis—Development to Preclinical Testing

“…Chitosan possesses various highly desirable features, which include biocompatibility and versatility as far as formulation techniques are concerned. These characteristics make chitosan a highly sought after biomaterial with technological applications in cosmetics [ 40 , 41 ], pharmaceutical [ 42 , 43 ], and biomedical [ 44 , 45 ] industries. However, despite all this, as this review will highlight, there is a deficiency of usage of chitosan in the formulation of nanoparticulate technologies that can be used for, and are being used for, atherosclerosis research (diagnostics, therapeutics, and theranostics).…”

Nanoparticle platforms for dermal antiaging technologies: Insights in cellular and molecular mechanisms

“…In contrast to chitosan-coated nanoparticles, the niacinamide-coated nanoparticles showed superior UV transmission efficiency (16%) and improved SPF (9.96) following a 15-min exposure to skin. Also, the niacinamide-coated nanoparticles caused a significant reduction in skin pigmentation (Jo et al, 2019). Similarly, the combination of ZnO and TiO 2 nanoparticles with other organic polymeric nanoparticles have shown excellent antiaging effects.…”

2‐Hydroxy‐1,4‐naphthoquinone [Lawsone] integrated rare‐earth hybrid materials as biocompatible UV/IR filter agents

“…Those hybrid materials are often exclusively made for the application where UV protective coatings are required. [12][13][14] Against this backdrop, the design of rare-earth-based inorganic-organic nano hybrids which can block the UV and IR radiations are promising alternate materials.…”