Processing and characterization of diatom nanoparticles and microparticles as potential source of silicon for bone tissue engineering

Enhancing bioactive properties of silk fibroin with diatom particles for bone tissue engineering applications

“…Diatom nanoparticles (DNPs) and microparticles (DMPs) were obtained from purified diatom skeletons isolated from diatomaceous powder (Phu Yen mineral joint stock company, Phu Yen province, Vietnam) as reported in Le et al . (). The size of DNPs was in the range of 50–300 nm as measured by dynamic light scattering, and DMPs ranged from 1 to 10 μm as estimated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).…”

“…Diatom nanoparticles (DNPs) and microparticles DMPs obtained following reference Le et al () were dispersed in DI water, added to aqueous SF solutions in different proportions, and the resulting suspensions were mixed for homogenization for 10 min.…”

“…The final concentration of SF in the solution was 6.2% wt, while the total concentration of DPs was set to 0.8% and 3.2% wt with respect to the dry fibroin content; 0.8% wt of particles in the fibroin sponges corresponded to a concentration of about 500 μg/ml of particles in the culture medium, that is the highest concentration we have investigated in a previous study and that did not induce any cytotoxic effect (Le et al, ). Samples at higher DPs equal to 3.2% wt (four times larger) were also considered for comparison.…”

“…The application of bio‐silica was recently suggested for bone tissue engineering (Wang et al ., ). In a previous study, we evaluated the morphology, chemical composition, silicon ion release kinetics and possible cytotoxic effects of diatom particles prepared with different purification methods agent (Le et al ., ). In particular, we found that both diatom nanoparticles and microparticles could represent a reliable source of silicon ions in aqueous conditions.…”

“…In particular, we found that both diatom nanoparticles and microparticles could represent a reliable source of silicon ions in aqueous conditions. Furthermore, we showed that concentrations up to 500 μg/ml of diatom particles (DPs) had no cytotoxic effect in vitro (Le et al, ).…”