o:25996 Surface-modified ZrO2 nanoparticles with caffeic acid: characterization and in vitro evaluation of biosafety for placental cells en ABSTRACT The toxicity of hybrid nanoparticles, consisting of non-toxic components, zirconium dioxide nanoparticles (ZrO2 NPs), and caffeic acid (CA), was examined against four different cell lines (HTR-8 SV/Neo, JEG-3, JAR, and HeLa). Stable aqueous ZrO2 sol, synthesized by forced hydrolysis, consists of 3–4 nm in size primary particles organized in 30–60 nm in size snowflake-like particles, as determined by transmission electron microscopy and direct light scattering measurements. The surface modification of ZrO2 NPs with CA leads to the formation of an interfacial charge transfer (ICT) complex followed by the appearance of absorption in the visible spectral range. The spectroscopic observations are complemented with the density functional theory calculations using a cluster model. The ZrO2 NPs and CA are non-toxic against four different cell lines in investigated concentration range. Also, ZrO2 NPs promote the proliferation of HTR-8 SV/Neo, JAR, and HeLa cells. On the other hand, hybrid ZrO2/CA NPs induced a significant reduction of the viability of the JEG-3 cells (39 %) for the high concentration of components (1.6 mM ZrO2 and 0.4 mM CA). toxicity, ZrO2 nanoparticles, caffeic acid, interfacial charge transfer complex, DFT calculations 1552099 10.1016/j.cbi.2021.109618 2022-06-09T15:07:53.252Z 44 yes 46 Vesna Lazić University of Belgrade, VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Serbia Jovan M. Nedeljković University of Belgrade, VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Serbia person Milica Jovanović Krivokuća University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor bioloških nauka person 0000-0001-8292-4853 Dragana Dekanski University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor medicinskih nauka person 0000-0001-8467-4165 Ivona Janković-Častvan University of Belgrade, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, Serbia person S. Phillip Ahrenkiel South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, USA person Jelena Papan University of Belgrade, VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Serbia person Jelena Marković University of Belgrade, VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Serbia person Dušan Sredojević University of Belgrade, VINČA Institute of Nuclear Sciences-National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Serbia person Andrea Pirković University of Belgrade, Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy INEP, Serbia doktor bioloških nauka person 0000-0002-1182-4895 application/pdf 6161507 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:25996 no yes 18 70 92000001 11A28 11A29 11A2901 11A41 Chemico-Biological Interactions 347 Elsevier 2021