Patent ID: 8333993

Claim:
A method for the synthesis of a plurality of polymer-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles coated with a biodegradable polymer for antioxidant, free-radical scavenger and autocatalytic biomedical applications, comprising the steps of: a) preparing an aqueous cerium nitrate solution containing approximately 2.0 to approximately 3.0 grams of cerium nitrate to approximately 5 ml of water; b) mixing the aqueous cerium nitrate solution with a biodegradable polymer to form mixture (I); c) adding mixture (I) dropwise to an ammonium hydroxide solution while continuously stirring to form mixture (II); d) centrifuging the mixture (II) containing ammonium hydroxide to settle any debris or large particles; e) purifying the centrifuged mixture of d) by ultrafiltration; f) recovering a plurality of non-agglomerated, polymer-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles coated with the biodegradable polymer wherein the plurality of polymer-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles has a UV profile exhibiting strong absorption below approximately 400 nm with peak absorption at approximately 300 nm; and g) contacting isolated biological cells with the plurality of polymer-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles wherein the antioxidant, free-radical scavenging and autocatalytic properties of the polymer-coated cerium oxide nanoparticles are unchanged from uncoated cerium oxide nanoparticles.