Tehran - FNA
Material engineering researchers in Iran produced a suspension with colloidal stability of over 60 days in aqueous beds by using a novel method. The achievement was obtained to modify ceramic nanoparticles by using polymeric compounds to be loaded by folic acid and anti-cancer drugs. Results of the research showed that a narrow range of nanoparticles meshing could be obtained. Results also demonstrated that a suspension with colloidal stability of more than 60 days with narrow meshing and single-phase anatase could be produced by preparing the cell containing nanoparticles and polymeric materials and by carrying out the hydrothermal operation. Sedimentation of nanoparticles is the biggest problem that challenges all applications of such materials. The direct biological application of these materials was the main objective in this research. The instability of nanoparticles results in the sedimentation of the particles in the tissue of the living creatures, and it disturbs drug delivery process. The production of ceramic pigments, the stabilization of the cell required for nanostructured coatings, and so on, are among other issues that are directly related to the colloidal stability of nanoparticles. Among the characteristics of the plan, mention can be made of increasing the stability of nanoparticles up to more than two months, the use of dextran, and coating of nanoparticles before the thermal operation. According to Naqibi, one of the researchers of the plan, it has the potential to be commercialized in the fields of the production of self-cleaning paints and the production of drug carriers at larger scales. According to him, the future of the research depends on increasing the crystalliniy of nanoparticles while the colloidal stability is conserved, and also on the stabilization of commercial nanoparticles. Results of the research have been published in September 2013 in Ceramics International, vol. 39, issue 7, pp. 8377-8384.