Synthesis, Stability, and Cytotoxicity of Novel Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications.

Among engineered nanomaterials, CeO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) are of particular interest due to their unique properties. These NPs' anti-oxidative and auto-reduction natures also render them promising in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, different synthesis methods of CeO₂ NPs were studied: an NH₄OH precipitation method, a NaOH precipitation method, and a microwave hydrothermal synthesis. Among these methods, the one-pot facile NH₄OH method outperformed the others. The synthesized CeO₂ NPs were determined to be highly monodispersed 13 nm crystallites with a pH at the potential of zero point charge (pH_zpc) of 2.2. The valence states of Ce in CeO₂ NPs were 3 + and 4 + were determined. The synthesized CeO₂ NPs remained stable over 2 days in a medium containing FBS and over 3 days in NaCl solutions. The auto-reduction oxidation cycles of our CeO₂ NPs were able to scavenge ROS multiple times. The cytotoxicity of NPs showed CeO₂ NPs did not have a significant toxic effect on neuro2A cells. Owing to its synthesis of NPs of small size, with anti-oxidative/auto-reduction nature, with stability in cell culture media, and an absence of cytotoxicity toward neuroblastoma cells, this novel method proves promising as a method to generate CeO₂ NPs for biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]