Magnetic Nanoparticles in Biopolymer Fibers: Fabrication Techniques and Characterization Methods.

Hybrid nanocomposites combining biopolymer fibers incorporated with nanoparticles (NPs) have received increasing attention due to their remarkable characteristics. Inorganic NPs are typically chosen for their properties, such as magnetism and thermal or electrical conductivity, for example. Meanwhile, the biopolymer fiber component is a backbone, and could act as a support structure for the NPs.

Critical assessment of enhancement factor measurements in surface-enhanced Raman scattering on different substrates.

The SERS enhancement factor (SERS-EF) is one of the most important parameters that characterizes the ability of a given substrate to enhance the Raman signal for SERS applications. The comparison of SERS intensities and SERS-EF values across different substrates is a common practice to unravel the performance of a given substrate. In this study, it is shown that such a comparison may lack significance if we compare substrates of very distinct nature and optical properties.

Rapid synthesis of hollow Ag-Au nanodendrites in 15 seconds by combining galvanic replacement and precursor reduction reactions.

Metallic nanomaterials displaying hollow interiors as well as sharp tips/branches at their surface (such as hollow nanodendrites) are attractive, because these features enable higher surface-to-volume ratios than their solid and/or rounded counterparts. This paper describes a simple strategy for the synthesis of Ag-Au nanodendrites in 15 s using Ag nanospheres prepared in a previous synthetic step as seeds. Our approach was based on the utilization of Ag nanospheres as seeds for Au deposition by a combination of galvanic replacement reaction between Ag and AuCl4(-)(aq) and AuCl4(-)(aq) reduction using hydroquinone in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer and water as the solvent.

Photos vs silhouettes for evaluation of profile esthetics between white and black evaluators.

Objective: To determine whether photos or silhouettes are adequate methods for evaluating the esthetic profiles of black subjects and whether black and white evaluators have different preferences for esthetic profiles.

Materials And Methods: One photographic record of the profile of a black female patient with accentuated dental bimaxillary dentoalveolar protrusion was randomly selected. The image of the patient's profile was altered to produce a series of seven photos and seven silhouettes (a total of 14 images) with different lip positions but uniform distances in relation to the esthetic plane created by Ricketts (line E).

Cu nanoparticles enable plasmonic-improved silicon photovoltaic devices.

This work examines the effect of copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) on the photocurrent efficiency of silicon photovoltaic (Si PV) devices. An optimized synthesis of stable Cu NPs is reported together with a procedure for their immobilization on the Si PV surface. A comprehensive analysis of the photocurrent and power dependence of the Cu NPs surface coverage and size is presented.