Bovine Serum Albumin-Immobilized Black Phosphorus-Based γ-Fe2O3 Nanocomposites: A Promising Biocompatible Nanoplatform

The interactions between proteins and nanoparticles need to be fully characterized as the immobilization of proteins onto various nanoplatforms in the physiological system often results in the change of surface of the protein molecules to avoid any detrimental issues related to their biomedical applications. Hence, in this article, the successful low-temperature synthesis of a BP-based γ-Fe2O3 (IB) nanocomposite and its interactive behavior with bovine serum albumin (BSA)-a molecule with chemical similarity and high sequence identity to human serum albumin-are described. To confirm the formation of γ-Fe2O3 and the IB nanocomposite, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses of the materials were performed. Additionally, the physical interaction between BSA and the IB nanocomposite was confirmed via UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectral analyses. Finally, the biocompatibility of the BSA-immobilized IB nanocomposite was verified using an in vitro cytotoxicity assay with HCT-15 colon cancer cells. Our findings demonstrate that this newly developed nanocomposite has potential utility as a biocompatible nanoplatform for various biomedical applications.

Antimicrobial Activity of Hybrids Terpolymers Based on Magnetite Hydrogel Nanocomposites

In the past few years, the development of hydrogel properties has led to the emergence of nanocomposite hydrogels that have unique properties that allow them to be used in various different fields and applications such as drug delivery, adsorption soil containing, tissue engineering, wound dressing, and especially antimicrobial applications. Thus, this study was conducted in order to fabricate a novel crosslinked terpolymer nanocomposite hydrogel using the free radical copolymerization method based on the usage of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid (AMPS), acrylamide (AAm), acrylonitrile (AN), and acrylic acid (AA) monomers and iron oxide (Fe3O4) magnetic nanoparticles and using benzoyl peroxide as an initiator and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a crosslinker. The structure of the synthesized composite was confirmed using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and x-ray powder diffraction (XRD) measurements. Furthermore, the surface morphology and the magnetic nanoparticle distributions were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurement. In addition, the swelling capacity of the hydrogel nanocomposite was measured using the swelling test. Lastly, the efficiency of the produced composite was evaluated as an antimicrobial agent for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains and a fungal strain.