Nanoparticles based on NaYF4, co-doped with lanthanides, have been extensively studied. Their unique optical properties show great potential for use in human medicine, mostly as bioimaging probes in medicinal diagnostics. Their main advantage over traditional organic fluorophores is their ability to exhibit upconversion fluorescence after an excitation by near infrared light. Despite their promising optical properties, the NaYF4 nanoparticles slowly dissolve in aqueous media. Therefore thorough safety and efficacy assessments need to be done before use in human medicine.
This master thesis is thematically divided into two parts. Firstly, we focused on optimizing the synthesis of protective phosphonic coatings based on alendronic acid and ethylenediamino(tetramethylenephosphonic) acid (EDTMP) on nanoparticles with either cubic (α-NaYF4) or hexagonal (β-NaYF4) crystal structure. The effect of synthesis parameters, such as temperature, time, and stirring intensity on the quality of the coatings was studied. We discovered that the coatings synthesized at higher temperatures were more efficient in preventing nanoparticle dissolution. The average size and surface morphology of the nanoparticles were determined using transmission electron microscopy. The coatings formation was followed with the zeta-potential measurements and Kaiser test. We examined the effect of the coatings on the optical properties of synthesized nanoparticles. The quality of the coatings was studied by the dissolution tests under physiological conditions in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) with high glucose content.
In the second part of the thesis, we focused on acute toxicity studies. Cell viability tests were performed on human endothelial cell line EA.hy926 under different conditions. The percentage of viable cells was determined by measuring the fluorescence of resazurin. We found that EDTMP coating, which was synthesized with a direct method on nanoparticles with the hexagonal crystal structure, was successful in preventing deleterious effects of bare nanoparticles on cell viability.
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