Aquatic toxicity testing generally focuses on the water absorption/dermal route of exposure to potential toxic chemicals, while much less work has been done on the oral route of exposure. This is due in part to the difficulties of applying traditional oral toxicity testing to aquatic environments, including the tendency for test chemicals to dissolve into water. The use of biopolymer nanopartic...

BACKGROUND LiCoO2 is one of the most used cathode materials in Li-ion batteries. Its conventional synthesis requires high temperature (>800 °C) and long heating time (>24 h) to obtain the micronscale rhombohedral layered high-temperature phase of LiCoO2 (HT-LCO). Nanoscale HT-LCO is of interest to improve the battery performance as the lithium (Li+) ion pathway is expected to be shorter in nano...

Due to new, previously unknown, properties attributed to engineered nanoparticles many new products are introduced in the agro-food area. Nanotechnologies cover many aspects, such as disease treatment, food security, new materials for pathogen detection, packaging materials and delivery systems. As with most new and evolving technologies, potential benefits are emphasized, while little is known...

Escherichia coli is among the most frequently encountered germs of purulent septic infections of various localizations. The E.coli strains tend to develop multiple resistance caused by the production of extended spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and carbapenemases. This dictates the necessity to search for new antimicrobial agents. In this respect, metal nanoparticles are promising candidates fo...

Silica is one of the most abundant compounds found in nature. Immoderate exposure to crystalline silica has been linked to pulmonary disease and crystalline silica has been classified as a Group I carcinogen. Ultrafine (diameter <100 nm) silica particles may have different toxicological properties compared to larger particles. We evaluated the effect of ultrafine silica nanoparticles on mouse b...

Adviser: Srivatsan Kidambi Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are one of the most highly manufactured nanomaterials in the world with applications in copious industrial and consumer products. The liver is a major accumulation site for many nanoparticles, including TiO2, directly through intentional ingestion or indirectly through increased environmental contamination and unintentional ingest...

Intended exposure to gold and silver nanoparticles has increased exponentially over the last decade and will continue to rise due to their use in biomedical applications. In particular, reprotoxicological aspects of these particles still need to be addressed so that the potential impacts of this development on human health can be reliably estimated. Therefore, in this study the toxicity of gold...

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials. They are used in plastics, sunscreens, personal care products, pharmaceuticals and the food industry due to their photocatalytic properties, high refractive index and generally unreactive nature. Their vast range of applications, and hence potential exposure to humans, raises concern over the safety of the na...

Iron oxide nanoparticles with unique magnetic properties have a high potential for use in several biomedical, bioengineering and in vivo applications, including tissue repair, magnetic resonance imaging, immunoassay, drug delivery, detoxification of biologic fluids, cell sorting, and hyperthermia. Although various surface modifications are being done for making these nonbiodegradable nanopartic...

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are one of the most highly manufactured and employed nanomaterials in the world with applications in copious industrial and consumer products. The liver is a major accumulation site for many nanoparticles, including TiO2, directly through intentional exposure or indirectly through unintentional ingestion via water, food or animals and increased environmenta...