Properties of metal oxide nanoparticles prepared by plasma discharge in water with ultrasonic cavitation

Abstract

Acoustic plasma discharge and cavitation in aqueous solutions were used to prepare metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) based on tungsten, copper, iron and zinc. It was found that ultrasonic cavitation during the NP formation influenced strongly the size and physical properties of NPs, which were measured by means of the electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. In vitro studies did not reveal cytotoxicity of the NPs for concentration of up to 0.2 mg/mL and exposure time for one week. The obtained results indicate good prospects of the prepared NPs for biomedical applications in the PL diagnostics of cancer and magnetic hyperthermia.