Analysis of Toxicity of Ceramic Nanoparticles and Functional Nanocomposites Based on Vulcanized Natural Rubber

Nanocomposites are multiphase materials of which, at least one of the phases, has a dimension smaller than 100 nm. These materials have attracted technological and scientific interest due to their multifunctional characteristics and potential, which allow them to combine unique properties which are not found in traditional commercial materials, such as natural rubber alone. The objective of this work is to analyse the toxicity of nanoparticles and nanocomposites when applied to mammal cells in order to obtain bioactive agents, as well as to evaluate the potential to be applied in biological systems. Ferroelectric ceramic nanoparticles of KSr2Nb5O15 (KSN) and paramagnetic ceramic nanoparticles Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 (NZF) were prepared and utilized to produce functional and multifunctional nanocomposites based on vulcanized natural rubber (NR/KSN and NR/NZF) with different nanoparticle concentrations. For both kinds of nanoparticles and both classes of nanocomposites, independently of the nanoparticle concentration, it is not possible to observe any reduction of the cellular viability until the incubation time is finished. In this way, these results point to the possibility of using these nanoparticles and nanocomposites, from the toxicity point of view, as bioactivity agents in biological systems based on mammalian cells.