Nickel Manganite-Sodium Alginate Nano-Biocomposite for Temperature Sensing

Unveiling the potential of alginate-based nanomaterials in sensing technology and smart delivery applications

Sensors are applied to many fields nowadays because of their high sensitivity, low cost, time-saving, user-friendly, and excellent selectivity. Current biomedical and pharmaceutical science has one focus on developing nanoparticle-based sensors, especially biopolymeric nanoparticles. Alginate is a widely used biopolymer in a variety of applications. The hydrogel-forming characteristic, the chemical structure with hydroxy and carboxylate moieties, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and water solubility of alginate have expanded opportunities in material and biomedical sciences. Recently, research on alginate-based nanoparticles and their applications has begun. These materials are gaining popularity because of their wide usage potential in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Many review papers describe applications of alginate in the drug delivery field. The current study covers the structural and physicochemical properties of alginate-based nanoparticles. The prospective applications of alginate-based nanomaterials in various domains are discussed, including drug delivery and environmental sensing applications for humidity, heavy metals, and hydrogen peroxide. Moreover, biomedical sensing applications of alginate-based nanoparticles regarding various analytes such as glucose, cancer cells, pharmaceutical drugs, and human motion will also be reviewed in this paper. Future research scopes highlight existing challenges and solutions.

Antioxidant and cell-friendly Fe2TiO5 nanoparticles for food packaging application

An emerging technology of active packaging enables prolongation of food shelf life by limiting the oxygen transfer and the reactivity of free radicals, which both destruct food freshness. In this work, Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles were synthesized using a modified sol-gel method and evaluated as an enforcement of alginate food packaging film. Pure phase Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles had an average particle size of 44 nm and rhombohedral morphology. Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles induce no cell damage of human Caco-2 epithelial cells and show no inhibitory effect towards growth of a panel of bacterial strains, suggesting good biocompatibility. Films obtained by incorporation of Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles into alginate using the solvent casting method show no migration of iron or titanium ions from films to food simulants again suggesting their safety as a packaging material. Fe₂TiO₅ nanoparticles also showed strong antioxidant efficiency as determined using the DPPḢ assay, and confirmed further in a preservation test on fresh fruit.