Incorporation of Tb and Gd improves the diagnostic functionality of magnetotactic bacteria.

Magnetotactic bacteria are envisaged as potential theranostic agents. Their internal magnetic compass, chemical environment specificity and natural motility enable these microorganisms to behave as nanorobots, as they can be tracked and guided towards specific regions in the body and activated to generate a therapeutic response. Here we provide additional diagnostic functionalities to magnetotactic bacteria MSR-1 while retaining their intrinsic capabilities.

Influence of Anomalous Changes in the Crystal Structure on the Transport Properties of YbNiCuAl Series of Alloys.

Results of the transport properties of the YbNiCuAl (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.

Revealing a masked Verwey transition in nanoparticles of coexisting Fe-oxide phases.

The attractive electronic and magnetic properties together with their biocompatibility make iron-oxide nanoparticles appear as functional materials. In Fe-oxide nanoparticle (IONP) ensembles, it is crucial to enhance their performance thanks to controlled size, shape, and stoichiometry ensembles. In light of this, we conduct a comprehensive investigation in an ensemble of 28 nm cuboid-shaped IONPs in which all the analyses concur with the coexistence of magnetite/maghemite phases in their cores.

Exploring the Different Degrees of Magnetic Disorder in TbRCu Nanoparticle Alloys.

Recently, potential technological interest has been revealed for the production of magnetocaloric alloys using Rare-Earth intermetallics. In this work, three series of TbxR1-xCu2 (R ≡ Gd, La, Y) alloys have been produced in bulk and nanoparticle sizes via arc melting and high energy ball milling. Rietveld refinements of the X-ray and Neutron diffraction patterns indicate that the crystalline structure in all alloys is consistent with TbCu2 orthorhombic Imma bulk crystalline structure.

Dye-doped biodegradable nanoparticle SiO coating on zinc- and iron-oxide nanoparticles to improve biocompatibility and for in vivo imaging studies.

In vivo imaging and therapy represent one of the most promising areas in nanomedicine. Particularly, the identification and localization of nanomaterials within cells and tissues are key issues to understand their interaction with biological components, namely their cell internalization route, intracellular destination, therapeutic activity and possible cytotoxicity. Here, we show the development of multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) by providing luminescent functionality to zinc and iron oxide NPs.

Probing the stability and magnetic properties of magnetosome chains in freeze-dried magnetotactic bacteria.

biosynthesize high-quality magnetite nanoparticles, called magnetosomes, and arrange them into a chain that behaves like a magnetic compass. Here we perform magnetometry and polarized small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments on a powder of freeze-dried and immobilized . We confirm that the individual magnetosomes are single-domain nanoparticles and that an alignment of the particle moments along the magnetic field direction occurs exclusively by an internal, coherent rotation.

Tuning the structure and magnetic behavior of Ni-Ir-based nanoparticles in ionic liquids.

We report on a simple preparation of extremely small diameter (ca. 2 nm) Ni-Ir-based NPs using Ni(COD)2 and [Ir(COD)OCH3]2 in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (BMIm·NTf2). The prepared NPs had either core-shell-like or alloy-like structures with the presence of Ni,Ir-oxides, depending on the synthetic approach.

Synthesis of superparamagnetic iron(III) oxide nanowires in double-walled carbon nanotubes.

The synthesis and characterization of superparamagnetic iron(iii) oxide nanowires confined within double-walled carbon nanotubes by capillary filling with a melted precursor (iron iodide) followed by thermal treatment is reported for the first time.