A promising protected ascorbic acid-hydroxyapatite nanocomposite as a skin anti-ager: A detailed photo-and thermal stability study

Abstract

A new ascorbic acid (AA) nanocomposite with low toxicity and high photo and thermal stability is constructed for certain dermatological applications in humans. The presented nanocomposite consists of AA, nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The physicochemical properties of such CMC-nHAp-AA nanocomposite were characterized using X-Ray diffractometery (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) and UV–VIS spectroscopies. The size and morphology of the synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by TEM/SEM techniques. A detailed photo and thermal stability studies were performed to examine the stability of AA in the proposed nanocomposite. The AA content showed great stability against sunlight up to 3 h or more and against heat up to 100 °C, whereas it showed relatively limited stability against laser light up to 10 min depending on the laser type. Cytotoxicity endpoints, evaluating the cell viability and IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) have been performed for the exposed synthesized nanocomposite. There wasn't any effect on the cell viability up to 50 μg/mL of CMC-nHAp-AA nanocomposite. Based on IC50 values, it has been found that after 24 h of observation the IC50 of CMC-nHAp-AA nanocomposite was 0.199 μg/mL which depicts high safety profile of the proposed nanocomposite. The produced nanocomposite (CMC-nHAp-AA) is expected to possess great potential in dermatological applications due to its high stability and increased proliferative capacity which lasts longer than AA alone.