Fabrication of hybrid polystyrene–titanium dioxide with enhanced dye degradation and antimicrobial properties: investigation of the effect of triethylene glycol dimethacrylate on photocatalytic activity

Surface modification of TiO2 nanoparticles with organic molecules and their biological applications

In recent years, titanium(IV) dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) have shown promising potential in various biological applications such as antimicrobials, drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, biosensors, and tissue engineering. For employing TiO₂NPs in these fields, their nanosurface must be coated or conjugated with organic and/or inorganic agents. This modification can improve their stability, photochemical properties, biocompatibility, and even surface area for further conjugation with other molecules such as drugs, targeting molecules, polymers, etc. This review describes the organic-based modification of TiO₂NPs and their potential applications in the mentioned biological fields. In the first part of this review, around 75 recent publications (2017-2022) are mentioned on the common TiO₂NP modifiers including organosilanes, polymers, small molecules, and hydrogels, which improve the photochemical features of TiO₂NPs. In the second part of this review, we presented 149 recent papers (2020-2022) about the use of modified TiO₂NPs in biological applications, in which specific bioactive modifiers are introduced in this part with their advantages. In this review, the following information is presented: (1) the common organic modifiers for TiO₂NPs, (2) biologically important modifiers and their benefits, and (3) recent publications on biological studies on the modified TiO₂NPs with their achievements. This review shows the paramount significance of the organic-based modification of TiO₂NPs to enhance their biological effectiveness, paving the way toward the development of advanced TiO₂-based nanomaterials in nanomedicine.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles: Recent progress in antimicrobial applications

For decades, the antimicrobial applications of nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted the attention of scientists as a strategy for controlling the ever-increasing threat of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. The photo-induced antimicrobial properties of titanium dioxide (TiO₂ ) NPs by ultraviolet (UV) light are well known. This review elaborates on the modern methods and antimicrobial mechanisms of TiO₂ NPs and their modifications to better understand and utilize their potential in various biomedical applications. Additional compounds can be grafted onto TiO₂ nanomaterial, leading to hybrid metallic or non-metallic materials. To improve the antimicrobial properties, many approaches involving TiO₂ have been tested. The results of selected studies from the past few years covering the most recent trends in this field are discussed in this review. There is extensive evidence to show that TiO₂ NPs can exhibit certain antimicrobial features with disputable roles of UV light. Hence, they are effective in treating bacterial infections, although the majority of these conclusions came from in vitro studies and in the presence of some additional nanomaterials. The methods of evaluation varied depending on the nature of the research while researchers incorporated different techniques, including determining the minimum inhibitory concentration, cell count, and using disk and well diffusion methods, with a noticeable indication that cell count was the most and dominant criterion used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in Biology Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease.