Abstract
Tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) is a metal-organic semiconductor, widely used for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and devices. This material has unique optical properties that make it a promising material for broad medical applications. However, particle size might need to be reduced to the nanoscale to improve its performance and photostability. A simple, quick, and cost-effective approach to reducing the particle size from its micro powder to the nanoscale level is described in this work. Chloroform and water were used to produce uniform nanoparticles in a temperature range of 60-70 degrees C. The obtained results showed that the change in photoluminescence intensity of produced nanostructures with time (i.e., photo-degradation) was negligible. We showed that this is most likely to their facial structural state. This approach could be beneficial for developing stable OLEDs as well as for other potential applications. Finally, to assess the biomedical application potential of Alq(3) in its micro/nano-size, we exposed them to the human colon cancer cell line (HCT116). Besides, we have utilized its fluorescence to track the degradation of gelatin-based hydrogel degradation. Cell cytotoxicity and morphology studies were carried out. We observed that the nanoparticles of Alq(3) induce higher cytotoxic effects on the cells than the original Alq(3) micro-sized powder. Also, the Alq(3) nanoparticle showed excellently correlated to gelatin degradation. These results indicate the potential application of Alq(3) in promising biomedical applications.