TY - JOUR AU - Cao, Dingding AU - Shu, Xugang AU - Zhu, Dandan AU - Liang, Shengli AU - Hasan, Murtaza AU - Gong, Sheng PY - 2020 DA - 2020/04/23 TI - Lipid-coated ZnO nanoparticles synthesis, characterization and cytotoxicity studies in cancer cell JO - Nano Convergence SP - 14 VL - 7 IS - 1 AB - ZnO nanoparticles are widely used in biological, chemical, and medical fields, but their toxicity impedes their wide application. In this study, pristine ZnO NPs (~ 7 nm; ~ 18 nm; ~ 49 nm) and lipid-coated ZnO NPs (~ 13 nm; ~ 22 nm; ~ 52 nm) with different morphologies were prepared by chemical method and characterized by TEM, XRD, HRTEM, FTIR, and DLS. Our results showed that the lipid-coated ZnO NPs (~ 13 nm; ~ 22 nm; ~ 52 nm) groups improved the colloidal stability, prevented the aggregation and dissolution of nanocrystal particles in the solution, inhibited the dissolution of ZnO NPs into Zn2+ cations, and reduced cytotoxicity more efficiently than the pristine ZnO NPs (~ 7 nm; ~ 18 nm; ~ 49 nm). Compared to the lipid-coated ZnO NPs, pristine ZnO NPs (~ 7 nm; ~ 18 nm; ~ 49 nm) could dose-dependently destroy the cells at low concentrations. At the same concentration, ZnO NPs (~ 7 nm) exhibited the highest cytotoxicity. These results could provide a basis for the toxicological study of the nanoparticles and direct future investigations for preventing strong aggregation, reducing the toxic effects of lipid-bilayer and promoting the uptake of nanoparticles by HeLa cells efficiently. SN - 2196-5404 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40580-020-00224-9 DO - 10.1186/s40580-020-00224-9 ID - Cao2020 ER -