Comparative in vitro cytotoxicity study of carbon nanotubes and titania nanostructures on human lung epithelial cells

The aim of this study is to assess in vitro cytotoxic effects of titania nanostructures and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by exposing A549 lung epithelial cell line to these materials. Titania nanotubes (TiNTs) were grown by hydrothermal treatment of TiO2 nanoparticles, followed by annealing them at 400 degrees C. The titania nanostructures obtained on annealing (mixture of nanotubes and nanorods) were hollow and open ended, containing similar to 3-5 layers of titania sheets, with an internal diameter similar to 3-5 nm and external diameter similar to 8-10 nm, and a specific surface area of 265 m(2)/g. As-supplied single walled (SWCNTs) and microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (MPCVD) grown multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used in this study. The lengths and diameters of the SWCNTs were 5-10 nm and 0.5-3 nm respectively. The lengths and diameters of the MWCNTs were 25-30 mu m and 10-30 nm respectively. The cell viability was evaluated using the MU (3-(4,-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium) assay. No significant cytotoxic effects of titania nanostructures were observed over a period of a week of testing time, while the presence of CNTs in some cases demonstrated significant cytotoxic effects. Finally, possible reason of cytotoxicity is discussed in the light of microstructures of materials. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.