Chronic wounds are often recalcitrant to treatment due to high microbial bioburden and the problem of microbial resistance. Silver is a broad spectrum natural antimicrobial agent with wide applications extending to proprietary wound dressings. Recently silver nanoparticles have attracted attention in wound management. In the current study, the green synthesis of nanoparticles was accomplished using a natural reducing agent, curcumin which is a natural polyphenolic compound, well known as a wound healing agent. The hydrophobicity of curcumin was overcome by its microencapsulation in cyclodextrins. This prediction study demonstrates the production, characterisation of silver nanoparticles using aqueous curcumin:hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin complex and loading them into bacterial cellulose hydrogel with moist wound healing properties. These silver nanoparticle-loaded bacterial cellulose hydrogels were characterised for wound management applications. In addition to high cytocompatibility, these novel dressings exhibited antimicrobial activity against three representative wound infecting pathogenic microbes Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas. aeruginosa and Candida auris.

The potential hazard posed by nanomaterials can be significantly influenced by transformations which these materials undergo during their lifecycle, from manufacturing through to disposal. The transformations may depend on the nanomaterials’ own physicochemical properties as well as the environment they are exposed to. This study focuses on the mechanisms of transformation of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) in laboratory experiments which simulate potential scenarios in which the NPs are exposed to phosphate-bearing media. We have experimented with the transformation of four different kinds of CeO₂ NPs, in order to investigate the effects of nanoparticle size, capping agent (three were uncapped and one was PVP capped) and oxidation state (two consisted mostly of Ce⁴⁺ and two were a mix of Ce^3+/Ce⁴⁺). They were exposed to a reaction solution containing KH₂PO₄, citric acid and ascorbic acid at pH values of 2.3, 5.5 and 12.3, and concentrations of 1mM and 5mM. The transformations were followed by UV-vis, zeta potential and XRD measurements, which were taken after 7 and 21 days, and by transmission electron microscopy after 21 days. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was measured at 5mM concentration after 21 days for some samples. Results show that for pH 5 and 5mM phosphate concentration, CePO₄ NPs were formed. Nanoparticles that were mostly Ce⁴⁺ did not dissolve at 1mM reagent concentration, and did not produce CePO₄ NPs. When PVP was present as a capping agent it proved to be an extra reducing agent, and CePO₄ was found under all conditions used. This is the first paper where the transformation of CeO₂ NPs in the presence of phosphate has been studied for particles with different size, shapes and capping agents, in a range of different conditions and using many different characterisation methods.

Due to the increasing use and production of nanomaterials (NMs), the ability to characterise their physical/chemical properties quickly and reliably has never been so important. Proper characterisation allows a thorough understanding of the material and its stability, and is critical to establishing dose-response curves to ascertain risks to human and environmental health. Traditionally, methods such as Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field Flow Fractionation (FFF) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) have been favoured for size characterisation, due to their wide-availability and well-established protocols. Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) offers a faster and more cost-effective solution for complex dispersions including polydisperse or non-spherical NMs. CE has been used to rapidly separate NMs of varying sizes, shapes, surface modifications and compositions. This review will discuss the literature surrounding the CE separation techniques, detection and NM characteristics used for the analysis of a wide range of NMs. The potential of combining CE with mass spectrometry (CE-MS) will also be explored to further expand the characterisation of NMs, including the layer of biomolecules adsorbed to the surface of NMs in biological or environmental compartments, termed the acquired biomolecule corona. CE offers the opportunity to uncover new/poorly characterised low abundance and polar protein classes due to the high ionisation efficiency of CE-MS. Furthermore, the possibility of using CE-MS to characterise the poorly researched small molecule interactions within the NM corona is discussed.

The potential long-term environmental impact of manufactured nanoparticles (NPs) remains poorly understood, in part due to the complexity of NPs themselves and the range of physico-chemical parameters that may influence their biological impacts (such as size, shape and chemistry), as well as their dynamic interactions with their environment, leading to acquisition of an eco-corona and a range of other possible transformations. A key hypothesis in nanosafety assessment is that the NP core chemistry is a primary factor controlling toxicity. This work aims to compare the uptake and impacts of 5 nm zinc oxide (ZnO) NPs which are highly soluble and cerium dioxide (CeO₂) NPs which are considered to be poorly soluble, where both particles were produced using an identical protocol and capped with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), on Daphnia magna (D. magna). These well-characterised NPs were developed as part of a systematic library, and were intended to allow controlled variation of one property at a time, e.g. the core composition as evaluated here. Half-maximal effective concentrations (EC₅₀) were determined in pure medium and medium conditioned with biomolecules secreted by D. magna, as the presence of biomolecules in the environment has the ability to alter NP stability and biological effects. NPs were characterised by size and zeta potential measurements under both conditions. NP uptake concentrations and removal over 24 hours post exposure (without feeding) were determined by inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) of the exposure and receiving media, respectively. Results showed that PVP capped ZnO NPs were more toxic than PVP capped CeO₂ NPs. The NP impact and behaviour was due to physical effects with CeO₂ NPs which showed signs of agglomeration while a chemical effect was apparent in the case of ZnO NPs which underwent partial dissolution in the gut following uptake.

Once released into the environment, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) undergo complex interactions and transformations that determine their fate, exposure concentration, form, and likely impact on biota. Transformations are physical, chemical, or biological changes that occur to the ENM or the ENM coating. Over time, these transformations have an impact on their behaviour and properties. The interactions and transformations of ENMs in the environment depend on their pristine physical and chemical characteristics and the environmental or biological compartment into which they are released. The uniqueness of each ENM property or lifecycle results in a great deal of complexity. Even small changes may have a significant impact on their potential transformations. This review outlines the key influences and outcomes of ENM evolution pathways in aquatic environments and provides an assessment of potential environmental transformations, focusing on key chemical, physical, and biological processes. By obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the potential environmental transformations that nanomaterials can undergo, more realistic models of their probable environmental behaviour and potential impact can be developed. This will, in turn, be crucial in supporting regulatory bodies in their efforts to develop environmental policy in the field of nanotechnology.