Enhanced Photocatalytic Blood Oxygenation on Ag Nanoparticles Decorated TiO₂ Nanotubes

Blood oxygenation through the photocatalytic action can be a remarkable phenomenon that holds great potential for the development of artificial lung-assist devices. This process necessitates the use of a semiconductor and a suitable light source. In this work, we propose silver nanoparticles decorated TiO₂ nanotubes (Ag-TNTs) as a photocatalyst. Initially, we fabricated TiO₂ nanotubes through an electrochemical anodization process. Subsequently, silver nanoparticles are loaded onto the TNTs using a UV-light-assisted chemical bath technique. The obtained Ag-TNTs were characterized using the techniques, field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Hemolysis activity was studied to investigate the biocompatibility of the fabricated samples. For blood oxygenation, the Ag-TNTs are overlaid with blood and exposed to a UV lamp to initiate the photocatalytic reaction. Investigation of the optical absorption studies conducted at regular intervals on the diluted blood samples shows an enhancement in the blood oxygenation (the absorption value at 415 nm is increased from 0.99 to 3.10 ± 0.11), which is also evident in the standard hemoglobin test (15.7-19.9 g/dL). The structure of red blood cells was examined using an optical microscope, and it was observed that there was no hemolysis following the photocatalytic process.