Synthesis and Characterization of Nanoparticles from Cuttlebone (sepia pharaonis) of Persian Gulf

Cuttlebone is composed mostly of CaCO3 and chitin, and can be used as a natural source of CaCO3 nanoparticle production.
In this study, ball milling and dispersion of initial powder in a surfactant, cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) aqueous solution were used to produce CaCO3 nanoparticles from cuttlebone (Sepia pharaonis) of the Persian Gulf. Then, the results of the two methods were compared. Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) were used to characterize particles.
The results showed that two hours grinding of the initial powder produced nanoparticles of 44 nm diameter. Moreover, increasing the grinding time had a direct effect on reducing the size of the nanoparticles. The obtained results from dispersion of initial powder in surfactant aqueous solution indicated the great result of nanoparticles of 40 nm diameter.
The capability of cuttlebone powder (Sepia pharaonis) of the Persian Gulf to produce nanoparticles in a process characterized with low energy consumption and low processing time suggests that it may be used at industrial scale for the synthesis of biocompatible nanoparticles