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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Lidija Siller, Sunthon Piticharoenphun, Dr Ben Horrocks
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
We report the effects of exposure to alkylated silicon nanocrystals (‘alkyl-SiNCs’ at concentration ~ 7.2 mg/L) and -Fe2O3 nanoparticles coated with ultra-thin silica (‘SiO2-coated IONPs’ at concentration ~ 150 mg/L) on sea urchins Paracentrotus lividus and Arbacia lixula, respectively, studied with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies using excitation from a synchrotron light source. A remarkably low mortality and low incidence of skeletal deformation is observed for exposure to both types of nanoparticles studied, despite the high concentrations employed in this work. XRF mapping demonstrates that both types of nanoparticle are found to agglomerate in the body of the sea urchins. FTIR spectra indicates that alkyl-SiNCs remain intact after ingestion and corresponding XRF maps show increased oxygen throughout the organisms, possibly related to oxidation products arising from reactive oxygen species generated in the presence of the nanoparticles. Exposure to SiO2-coated IONPs is found to produce sulphur-containing species, which may be the result of a biological response in order to reduce the toxicity of the nanomaterial.
Author(s): Siller L, Piticharoenphun S, Lemloh M-L, Horrocks BR, Kaulich B, Gianonchelli A, Hunt MRC, Brummer F, Medakovic D
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Key Engineering Materials
Year: 2016
Volume: 672
Pages: 312-327
Online publication date: 15/01/2016
Acceptance date: 04/06/2015
Date deposited: 04/06/2015
ISSN (print): 1013-9826
ISSN (electronic): 1662-9795
Publisher: TT Publications
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.672.312
DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.672.312
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