Synthesis, Characterization and Cytotoxicity of Photochromic Molybdenum Oxide-Doped Tungsten Oxide Polymeric Nanohybrid Films for Biomedical Applications.

Abstract

Despite the known nontoxicity, stability and efficiency of WO3 and MoO3 against microbes as a result of their catalytic activities, these oxides are not effective photocatalysts because the O2 absorbed cannot be reduced by the photogenerated electrons in their conduction band, which leads to the rebinding of electrons and holes on the surface. The doping of these two n-type semiconductor metal oxides and incorporation of a biocompatible, biodegradable and bioavailable polymer (such as chitosan) to form a film will, to a large extent, affect the surface area interaction and multipurpose applicability of the film as a therapeutic, controlled delivery and dual sensitive material. The WO3-NP, WO3MoO3 nanocomposites were synthesized via a deep eutectic solvent-assisted hydrothermal-based method, which afforded fine-sized nanoparticles and nanocomposites, which were further incorporated into a chitosan matrix to form nanohybrid films via the solvent casting method. The structural, optical and morphological characterization of the materials was carried out via XRD, FT-IR, UV, XPS, SEM, TEM, EDX and DLS. XRD and FT-IR analyses revealed that WO3MoO3 nanocomposites were successfully formed and incorporated into the chitosan matrix. The nanohybrid film showed antimicrobial activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 100 µg/mL. Furthermore, the nanohybrid film showed no significant toxicity.