Enhanced photocatalysis and anticancer activity of green hydrothermal synthesized Ag@TiO₂ nanoparticles

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles (NPs) have been doped with varying amounts (0.005, 0.010 and 0.015 M) of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using hydrothermal method. Further, in this work, a green approach was followed for the formation of Ag@TiO₂ NPs using Aloe vera gel as a capping and reducing agent. The structural property confirmed the presence of anatase phase TiO₂. Increased peak intensity was observed while increasing the Ag concentration. Further, the morphological and optical properties have been studied, which confirmed the effective photocatalytic behavior of the prepared Ag@TiO₂ NPs. The photocatalytic performance of Ag@TiO₂ has been considered for the degradation of picric acid in the visible light region. The concentration at 0.010 M of the prepared Ag@TiO₂ has achieved higher photocatalytic performance within 50 min, which could be attributed to its morphological behavior. Similarly, anticancer activity against lung cancer cell lines (A549) was also determined. The Ag@TiO₂ NPs generated a large quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in complete cancer cell growth suppression after their systemic in vitro administration. Ag@TiO₂ NPs was adsorbed visible light that leads to an enhanced anticancer sensitivity by killing and inhibiting cancer cell reproduction through cell viability assay test. It was clear that 0.015 M of Ag@TiO₂ NPs were highly effective against human lung cancer cell lines and showed increased production of ROS in cancer cell lines due to the medicinal behavior of the Aloe vera gel.