Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations
Occupational exposure to quartz dust is associated with fatal diseases. Quartz dusts generated by mechanical fracturing are characterized by a broad range of micrometric to nanometric particles. The contribution of this nanometric fraction to the overall toxicity of quartz is still largely unexplore...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/23/15425 |
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| author | Chiara Bellomo Cristina Pavan Gianluca Fiore Guillermo Escolano-Casado Lorenzo Mino Francesco Turci |
| author_facet | Chiara Bellomo Cristina Pavan Gianluca Fiore Guillermo Escolano-Casado Lorenzo Mino Francesco Turci |
| author_sort | Chiara Bellomo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Occupational exposure to quartz dust is associated with fatal diseases. Quartz dusts generated by mechanical fracturing are characterized by a broad range of micrometric to nanometric particles. The contribution of this nanometric fraction to the overall toxicity of quartz is still largely unexplored, primarily because of the strong electrostatic adhesion forces that prevent isolation of the nanofraction. Furthermore, fractured silica dust exhibits special surface features, namely nearly free silanols (NFS), which impart a membranolytic activity to quartz. Nanoquartz can be synthetized via bottom-up methods, but the surface chemistry of such crystals strongly differs from that of nanoparticles resulting from fracturing. Here, we report a top-down milling procedure to obtain a nanometric quartz that shares the key surface properties relevant to toxicity with fractured quartz. The ball milling was optimized by coupling the dry and wet milling steps, using water as a dispersing agent, and varying the milling times and rotational speeds. Nanoquartz with a strong tendency to form submicrometric agglomerates was obtained. The deagglomeration with surfactants or simulated body fluids was negligible. Partial lattice amorphization and a bimodal crystallite domain size were observed. A moderate membranolytic activity, which correlated with the number of NFS, signaled coherence with the previous toxicological data. A membranolytic nanoquartz for toxicological investigations was obtained. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:44:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-814c4b9d2bc34ce18751ec68cd55eb36 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T17:44:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-814c4b9d2bc34ce18751ec68cd55eb362023-11-24T11:18:57ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672022-12-0123231542510.3390/ijms232315425Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological InvestigationsChiara Bellomo0Cristina Pavan1Gianluca Fiore2Guillermo Escolano-Casado3Lorenzo Mino4Francesco Turci5Department of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Chemistry, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, ItalyOccupational exposure to quartz dust is associated with fatal diseases. Quartz dusts generated by mechanical fracturing are characterized by a broad range of micrometric to nanometric particles. The contribution of this nanometric fraction to the overall toxicity of quartz is still largely unexplored, primarily because of the strong electrostatic adhesion forces that prevent isolation of the nanofraction. Furthermore, fractured silica dust exhibits special surface features, namely nearly free silanols (NFS), which impart a membranolytic activity to quartz. Nanoquartz can be synthetized via bottom-up methods, but the surface chemistry of such crystals strongly differs from that of nanoparticles resulting from fracturing. Here, we report a top-down milling procedure to obtain a nanometric quartz that shares the key surface properties relevant to toxicity with fractured quartz. The ball milling was optimized by coupling the dry and wet milling steps, using water as a dispersing agent, and varying the milling times and rotational speeds. Nanoquartz with a strong tendency to form submicrometric agglomerates was obtained. The deagglomeration with surfactants or simulated body fluids was negligible. Partial lattice amorphization and a bimodal crystallite domain size were observed. A moderate membranolytic activity, which correlated with the number of NFS, signaled coherence with the previous toxicological data. A membranolytic nanoquartz for toxicological investigations was obtained.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/23/15425silicaquartznanoparticlesilanolcrystallinityfracturing |
| spellingShingle | Chiara Bellomo Cristina Pavan Gianluca Fiore Guillermo Escolano-Casado Lorenzo Mino Francesco Turci Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations International Journal of Molecular Sciences silica quartz nanoparticle silanol crystallinity fracturing |
| title | Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations |
| title_full | Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations |
| title_fullStr | Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations |
| title_short | Top-Down Preparation of Nanoquartz for Toxicological Investigations |
| title_sort | top down preparation of nanoquartz for toxicological investigations |
| topic | silica quartz nanoparticle silanol crystallinity fracturing |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/23/15425 |
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