Facet-dependent transformation and toxicity of nanoscale zinc oxide in the synthetic saliva

The nanoscale zinc oxide(n-ZnO)was used in food packages due to its superior antibac terial activity,resulting in potential intake of n-ZnO through the digestive system,wherein n-ZnO interacted with saliva.In recent,facet engineering,a technique for controlling the exposed facets,was applied to n-ZnO,whereas risk of n-ZnO with specific exposed facets in saliva was ignored.ZnO nanoflakes(ZnO-0001)and nanoneedles(ZnO-1010)with the pri mary exposed facets of{0001}and{1010}respectively were prepared in this study,investigat ing stability and toxicity of ZnO-0001 and ZnO-1010 in synthetic saliva.Both ZnO-0001 and ZnO-1010 partially transformed into amorphous Zn_(3)(PO_(4))_(2)within 1 hr in the saliva even containing orgnaic components,forming a ZnO-Zn_(3)(PO_(4))_(2)core-shell structure.Neverthe less,ZnO-1010 relative to ZnO-0001 would likely transform into Zn_(3)(PO_(4))_(2),being attributed to superior dissolution of{1010}facet due to its lower vacancy formation energy(1.15 eV than{0001}facet(3.90 eV)).The toxicity of n-ZnO to Caco-2 cells was also dependent on the primary exposed facet;ZnO-0001 caused cell toxicity through oxidative stress,whereas ZnO-1010 resulted in lower cells viability than ZnO-0001 through oxidative stress and mem brane damage.Density functional theory calculations illustrated that·O_(2)^(-)was formed and released on{1010}facet,yet O_(2)^(2-)instead of·O_(2)^(-)was generated on{0001}facet,leading to low oxidative stress from ZnO-0001.All findings demonstrated that stability and toxicity of n-ZnO were dependent on the primary exposed facet,improving our understanding o health risk of nanomaterials.