Nitrogen-functionalized graphene quantum dot incorporated GelMA microgels as fluorescent 3D-tissue Constructs.

Biopolymer microgels present many opportunities in biomedicine and tissue engineering. To understand their behavior in therapeutic interventions, long-term monitoring is critical, which is usually achieved by incorporating fluorescent materials within the hydrogel matrix. Current research is limited due to issues concerning the biocompatibility and instability of the conventional fluorescent species, which also tend to adversely affect the bio-functionality of the hydrogels.

Excitation dependence and independence of photoluminescence in carbon dots and graphene quantum dots: insights into the mechanism of emission.

Excitation-dependent, multicolor emission from different varieties of 0D carbon systems has attracted immense research attention. It is generally accepted that some variants of 0D carbon exhibit excitation dependent emission, while other variants do not. A third variant exhibits both excitation dependent as well as excitation independent emission.

One-Pot Synthesis of Gel Glass Embedded with Luminescent Silicon Nanoparticles.

Preparation of highly luminescent glasses involves expensive and complicated processes and usually requires high temperature. In this work, we show that luminescent silicon (Si) nanoparticle (NP)- embedded silicate gel glasses can be developed under near-ambient conditions by a remarkably simple, one-pot strategy, without using any sophisticated instrumentation or technique. Simultaneous hydrolysis and reduction of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane leads to the formation of colloidal Si nanocrystals that can be transformed to a glassy phase upon slow evaporation followed by freezing.

Amorphous Carbon Dots and their Remarkable Ability to Detect 2,4,6-Trinitrophenol.

Apparently mundane, amorphous nanostructures of carbon have optical properties which are as exotic as their crystalline counterparts. In this work we demonstrate a simple and inexpensive mechano-chemical method to prepare bulk quantities of self-passivated, amorphous carbon dots. Like the graphene quantum dots, the water soluble, amorphous carbon dots too, exhibit excitation-dependent photoluminescence with very high quantum yield (~40%).

Biomimetically synthesized polymer-hydroxyapatite sheet like nano-composite.

Biomimetic internal architecture is proving valuable for multi-tissue and structural tissue interface engineering. A biomimetic method developed for the in situ synthesis of hydroxyapatite in poly (vinyl) alcohol, produces nanocomposites in the form of fabric-like sheets, when subjected to lyophilisation. The surface reactive hydroxyl groups of poly (vinyl) alcohol encourage site-specific coupling of hydroxyapatite.

Hydroxyapatite coating on stainless steel pre-coated with bovine serum albumin at ambient conditions.

A biomimetic process for coating of nanosized hydroxyapatite on stainless steel, which capitalises the dual nature of the protein bovine serum albumin in both metal binding and a strong affinity for calcium ions, has been developed. The novelty of the process lies in pre-conditioning the metallic surface using the above protein prior to its mineralization with hydroxyapatite at ambient conditions. The microporous morphology of these coatings may provide favourable solubility and resorbability as desired by many orthopaedic and orthodontic applications.