Agarose gel tailored calcium carbonate nanoparticles-synthesis and biocompatibility evaluation

In this study, a novel approach to tailor the calcium carbonate nanoparticles was exploited based on agarose gel as polymer medium. The size of nanoparticles formed was governed by ionic diffusion and affected by weight percent of agarose and reaction temperature. The size, shape, purity, composition and allotropy of the synthesized nanoparticles were analyzed by different characterization techniques. Purity of nanoparticles as small as 37 nm demonstrates their suitability for broad range of industrial applications. The exposure of rat lung epithelial cells to these nanoparticles even at a higher concentration (50 microg/ml) did not induce considerable oxidative stress or cell death authenticating their fidelity to potential applications in the field of biotechnology and medicine. Through the simple and economic method of synthesis adopted in this study, separation of nanoparticles from the gel was easy, and process parameters could be optimized to control the particle size.