Comparative Toxicity of CuZn Nanoparticles with Different Physical and Chemical Characteristics

In the experiment, the biological activity of copper and zinc alloy nanoparticles prepared by gas phase synthesis in an argon atmosphere was assessed. Nanoparticle preparations differed in phase composition and specific surface for CuZnNPs1 - 36 m2/g, CuZnNPs2 - 22 and CuZnNPs3 NP - 15 m2/g. As the test cultures, E.coli K12 TG1 pF1, E.coli K12 MG1655 katG::lux, E.coli MG1655 pRecA-lux, E.coli K12 MG1655 psoxS::lux were used. As the results showed, phase composition and specific surface area of nanoparticles were their toxicity factors. CuZnNPs3 is the most toxic among the studied samples, the percentage of zinc phase in it, in comparison with other tested powders, is the largest (52.3%), and the percentage of metallic copper is the smallest (7.9%). Within further works is to carry out controlled synthesis that will allow changing the toxicity of the nanoparticles under study by phase composition and specific surface.