Evaluation of Gentamicin Release of PMMA Cements Using Different Methods: HPLC, Elution and Inhibition Zone Testing.

(1) Background: There is an ongoing discussion on the elution efficacy of antibiotic-impregnated cements. Our experiments were intended to clarify if there are differences in the antibiotic elution of HPLC compared with inhibition zone testing using eluates or PMMA discs. (2) Materials and Methods: Two cement brands with different concentrations of the active ingredient were tested in antimicrobial Kirby-Bauer (disc diffusion) assays.

The influence of grain size on low-temperature degradation of dental zirconia.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of grain size and air abrasion on low-temperature degradation (LTD) of yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystalline (Y-TZP). Disc-shaped specimens were sintered at 1350, 1450, and 1600°C. Air abrasion was performed with different abrasive particles.

Developments in and practical guidelines for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

This feature review provides an overview of the state-of the art and recent developments in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), in-depth information about the different available types of instruments including their (dis-)advantages and capabilities as well as a short glance at a number of samples that have recently been investigated using TERS. Issues concerning the progression of TERS from point spectroscopy to an imaging technique are discussed, as well as problems arising from background and contamination signals. This review is concluded with a short TERS 'user guideline', trying to aid researchers new in the field to properly align and test their own TERS setups.

Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopic imaging of patterned thiol monolayers.

Full spectroscopic imaging by means of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) was used to measure the distribution of two isomeric thiols (2-mercaptopyridine (2-PySH) and 4-mercaptopyridine (4-PySH)) in a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold surface. From a patterned sample created by microcontact printing, an image with full spectral information in every pixel was acquired. The spectroscopic data is in good agreement with the expected molecular distribution on the sample surface due to the microcontact printing process.

Nanoscale chemical imaging of single-layer graphene.

Electronic properties in different graphene materials are influenced by the presence of defects and their relative position with respect to the edges. Their localization is crucial for the reliable development of graphene-based electronic devices. Graphene samples produced by standard CVD on copper and by the scotch-tape method on gold were investigated using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS).

Chemical imaging on the nanoscale-top-illumination tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

A top illumination system for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) in a gap-mode configuration is presented here, which allows chemical analysis of sample surfaces with a lateral resolution beyond the optical diffraction limit and optical detection of very small amounts of analyte molecules (down to single molecule sensitivity). The technique combines the high resolution of an STM with label-free, chemical-rich information of Raman spectra at ambient pressure. In this system, using a special geometry with illumination and detection perpendicular to the sample surface, a lateral resolution of <15 nm was achieved using low laser powers and split second acquisition times per spectrum.

Nanoscale chemical imaging of segregated lipid domains using tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Lipid domains in supported lipid layers serve as a popular model to gain insight into the processes associated with the compartmentalization of biological membranes into so-called lipid rafts. In this paper, we present reproducible tip-enhanced Raman spectra originating from a very small number of molecules in a lipid monolayer on a gold surface, probed by the apex of a nanometer-sized silver tip. For the first time, we show large (128 × 128 pixels), high-resolution (< 50 nm) tip-enhanced Raman images of binary lipid mixtures with full spectral information at each pixel.

Guided assembly of metal and hybrid conductive probes using floating potential dielectrophoresis.

We present the site-selective, parallel and reproducible formation of conductive gold and tetrathiafulvalene-gold (TTF-Au) hybrid micro- and nanowires from their respective ion salt and cation-radical solutions. While the formation of micro- and nanowires by means of dielectrophoresis with directly coupled electrodes has been thoroughly investigated in recent studies, we present here the first relevant example of metal and hybrid wire assembly obtained by floating potential dielectrophoresis. In this configuration, the assembly of micro- and nanowires is achieved by capacitively coupling a large electrode (bias electrode) to a conductive substrate (p-doped Si) separated by an insulating oxide layer.

Nanoscale probing of a polymer-blend thin film with tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Fundamental advances have been made in the spatially resolved chemical analysis of polymer thin films. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) is used to investigate the surface composition of a mixed polyisoprene (PI) and polystyrene (PS) thin film. High-quality TER spectra are collected from these nonresonant Raman-active polymers.