The Certification of Standard Reference Material 1979: Powder Diffraction Line Profile Standard for Crystallite Size Analysis.

This rather long-standing project has resulted in a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Material (SRM) for the analysis of crystallite size from a consideration of powder diffraction line profile broadening. It consists of two zinc oxide powders, one with a crystallite size distribution centered at approximately 15 nm, and a second centered at about 60 nm. These materials display the effects of stacking faults that broaden specific reflections and a slight amount of microstrain broadening.

Redox-Active Molecular Nanowire Flash Memory for High-Endurance and High-Density Nonvolatile Memory Applications.

In this work, high-performance top-gated nanowire molecular flash memory has been fabricated with redox-active molecules. Different molecules with one and two redox centers have been tested. The flash memory has clean solid/molecule and dielectric interfaces, due to the pristine molecular self-assembly and the nanowire device self-alignment fabrication process.

The effect of protein corona composition on the interaction of carbon nanotubes with human blood platelets.

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) are one of the most promising nanomaterials for use in medicine. The blood biocompatibility of CNT is a critical safety issue. In the bloodstream, proteins bind to CNT through non-covalent interactions to form a protein corona, thereby largely defining the biological properties of the CNT.

Toxicity of carboxylated carbon nanotubes in endothelial cells is attenuated by stimulation of the autophagic flux with the release of nanomaterial in autophagic vesicles.

Unlabelled: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit a number of unique properties that make them attractive for various nanomedicine applications including their intravascular use. Therefore, the vascular toxicity of CNTs is a critical safety concern and methods of CNTs toxicity modulation are of great interest. Here, we report that carboxylated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) induce a decrease in viability of cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) associated with the profound accumulation of autophagosomes.

Surface mediated assembly of small, metastable gold nanoclusters.

The unique properties of metallic nanoclusters are attractive for numerous commercial and industrial applications but are generally less stable than nanocrystals. Thus, developing methodologies for stabilizing nanoclusters and retaining their enhanced functionality is of great interest. We report the assembly of PPh3-protected Au9 clusters from a heterogeneous mixture into films consisting of sub 3 nm nanocluster assemblies.

A new approach to prepare well-dispersed CaF(2) nanoparticles by spray drying technique.

Previously, nano-sized calcium fluoride (CaF₂) particles were prepared using a spray drying method by simultaneously feeding Ca(OH)₂ and NH₄F solutions to a two-liquid nozzle. The aim of the present study was to prepare better-dispersed nano-CaF₂ particles by co-forming a soluble salt, sodium chloride (NaCl). NaCl of various concentrations were added to the NH(4) F solution, leading to formation of (CaF₂ +NaCl) composites with CaF₂ /NaCl molar ratios of 4/1, 4/4, and 4/16.

Fabrication, characterization and simulation of high performance Si nanowire-based non-volatile memory cells.

We report the fabrication, characterization and simulation of Si nanowire SONOS-like non-volatile memory with HfO(2) charge trapping layers of varying thicknesses. The memory cells, which are fabricated by self-aligning in situ grown Si nanowires, exhibit high performance, i.e.

Correlation between the performance and microstructure of Ti/Al/Ti/Au Ohmic contacts to p-type silicon nanowires.

Understanding the electrical and microstructural aspects of contact formation at nanoscale is essential for the realization of low-resistance metallization suitable for the next generation of nanowire based devices. In this study, we present detailed electrical and microstructural characteristics of Ti/Al/Ti/Au metal contacts to p-type Si nanowires (SiNWs) annealed at various temperatures. Focused ion beam cross-sectioning techniques and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) were used to determine the microstructure of the source/drain metal contacts of working SiNW field-effect transistors (FETs) annealed for 30 s in the 450-850 °C temperature range in inert atmosphere.

Preparation and Properties of Nanoparticles of Calcium Phosphates With Various Ca/P Ratios.

This study aimed at preparing and studying the properties of nanoparticles of calcium phosphate (nCaP) with Ca/P ratios ranging from 1.0 to 1.67 using a spray-drying technique.

Bayesian Inference of Nanoparticle-Broadened X-Ray Line Profiles.

A single-step, self-contained method for determining the crystallite-size distribution and shape from experimental x-ray line profile data is presented. It is shown that the crystallite-size distribution can be determined without invoking a functional form for the size distribution, determining instead the size distribution with the least assumptions by applying the Bayesian/MaxEnt method. The Bayesian/MaxEnt method is tested using both simulated and experimental CeO2 data, the results comparing favourably with experimental CeO2 data from TEM measurements.