Various acid-base buffers have been employed in ruminant nutrition to mitigate rumen pH fluctuations. The objectives of this study were to synthesize a novel silica-based nanoparticle (NP) modified with carbonate/bicarbonate residues (functioning as a heterogeneous nano-buffer), and to compare its efficacy with sodium bicarbonate (SB), the most widely used buffer. Preliminary chemical tests revealed that the NP exhibited approximately 15% deviation in control of pH compared to SB when neutralizing 0.1 N HCl standard solution. This enhanced performance stems from a lower pKa value (6.11 vs. SB's 6.31) and improved stability provided by resonance stabilization through SiO⁻ support. Notably, the NP demonstrated >10% greater buffer capacity than SB, attributable to high active surface area and abundant -COO⁻ and -O⁻ functional groups acting as active sites (edge planes). The NP had an average spherical diameter of 30 nm. Cell viability assays using Caco-2 cells showed no cytotoxic effects. In simulated rumen media, SB and NP treatments maintained significantly higher pH than controls at 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 16, and 24 hours (P0.05). The synthetic NP shows promise for maintaining rumen pH within optimal ranges for efficient nutrient digestion. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are recommended to validate these findings for practical applications.
Moghaddasi et al. (2026) studied this question.