Different toxicity mechanisms between bare and polymer-coated copper oxide nanoparticles in Lemna gibba

In this report, we investigated how the presence of a polymer shell (poly(styrene-co-butyl acrylate) alters the toxicity of CuO NPs in Lemna gibba. Based on total Cu concentration, core-shell CuO NPs were 10 times more toxic than CuO NPs, inducing a 50% decrease of growth rate at 0.4 g l−1 after 48-h of exposure while a concentration of 4.5 g l−1 was required for CuO NPs for a similar effect. Toxicity of CuO NPs was mainly due to NPs solubilization in the media. Based on the accumulated copper content in the plants, core-shell CuO NPs induced 4 times more reactive oxygen species compared to CuO NPs and copper sulfate, indicating that the presence of the polymer shell changed the toxic effect induced in L. gibba. This effect could not be attributed to the polymer alone and reveals that surface modification may change the nature of NPs toxicity.