Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) exhibit strong antibacterial activity and are widely used in industries such as medical, food and cosmetics. In this study, Ag nanospheres and Ag nanotriangles are selected as antibacterial agents to reveal the distinct mechanism of tip effects towards their antibacterial performance. A series of antibacterial experiments were implemented, including monitoring as well as studying and determining the evolution of the inhibition zone, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)/minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values, growth kinetics, bactericidal curve, bacterial morphologies and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe adjustable structures and remarkable physicochemical properties of 2D monoelemental materials, such as silicene and germanene, have attracted significant attention in recent years. They can be transformed into silicane (SiH) and germanane (GeH) through covalent functionalization via hydrogen atom termination. However, synthesizing these materials with a scalable and low-cost fabrication process to achieve high-quality 2D SiH and GeH poses challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChiral CDots (c-CDots) not only inherit those merits from CDots but also exhibit chiral effects in optical, electric, and bio-properties. Therefore, c-CDots have received significant interest from a wide range of research communities including chemistry, physics, biology, and device engineers. They have already made decent progress in terms of synthesis, together with the exploration of their optical properties and applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe recently proposed the use of engineered irregularly shaped zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) coated with oleylamine (OAm), as photosynthetic biostimulants, to enhance crop yield. In the current research, we tested newly engineered rod-shaped ZnO nanorods (NRs) coated with oleylamine (ZnO@OAm NRs) regarding their in vivo behavior related to photosynthetic function and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in tomato ( Mill.) plants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have emerged as a prominent tool in agriculture. Since photosynthetic function is a significant measurement of phytotoxicity and an assessment tool prior to large-scale agricultural applications, the impact of engineered irregular-shaped ZnO NPs coated with oleylamine (ZnO@OAm NPs) were tested. The ZnO@OAm NPs (crystalline size 19 nm) were solvothermally prepared in the sole presence of oleylamine (OAm) and evaluated on tomato ( Mill.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnvironmentally friendly energy sources (e.g., hydrogen) require an urgent development targeting to address the problem of energy scarcity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaximizing the safe removal of hexavalent chromium (Cr) from waste streams is an increasing demand due to the environmental, economic and health benefits. The integrated adsorption and bio-reduction method can be applied for the elimination of the highly toxic Cr and its detoxification. This work describes a synthetic method for achieving the best chemical composition of spherical and flower-like manganese ferrite (MnFeO) nanostructures (NS) for Cr adsorption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInorganic-based nanoparticle formulations of bioactive compounds are a promising nanoscale application that allow agrochemicals to be entrapped and/or encapsulated, enabling gradual and targeted delivery of their active ingredients. In this context, hydrophobic ZnO@OAm nanorods (NRs) were firstly synthesized and characterized via physicochemical techniques and then encapsulated within the biodegradable and biocompatible sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), either separately (ZnO NCs) or in combination with geraniol in the effective ratios of 1:1 (ZnOGer1 NCs), 1:2 (ZnOGer2 NCs), and 1:3 (ZnOGer2 NCs), respectively. The mean hydrodynamic size, polydispersity index (PDI), and ζ-potential of the nanocapsules were determined at different pH values.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMagnetic metal-organic frameworks (MMOFs) are gaining increased attention as emerging adsorbents/water remediation agents. Herein, a facile development of novel MMOFs comprised of coated ferrite nanoparticles (MNPs) and UiO-66 metal-organic framework is reported. In specific, coated Co- and Zn-doped ferrite magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized as building block while the metal-organic framework was grown in the presence of MNPs via a semi-self-assembly approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChiral Au nanorods (c-Au NRs) with diverse architectures constitute an interesting nanospecies in the field of chiral nanophotonics. The numerous possible plasmonic behaviors of Au NRs can be coupled with chirality to initiate, tune, and amplify their chiroptical response. Interdisciplinary technologies have boosted the development of fabrication and applications of c-Au NRs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the current study, coated copper nanoparticles with polyethylene glycol 8000 (Cu@PEG NPs) and copper-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles with diethylene glycol (Cu-doped ZnO@DEG NPs) have been synthesized via solvothermal and microwave-assisted process, physicochemical characterized, and studied as nano-fungicides and nano-nematicides. Spheroidal Cu-doped ZnO@DEG NPs and urchin-like Cu@PEG NPs have been isolated with average crystallite sizes of 12 and 21 nm, respectively. The Cu doping (11.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
October 2022
Even though WS nanotubes (NTs-WS) have great potential as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) thanks to their unusual layered structure, their conductivity and cycling stability are far from satisfactory. To tackle these issues, carbon-coated WS (NTs-WS@C) nanocomposites were prepared through a facile synthesis method that involved precipitating a carbon precursor (20% sucrose) on WS nanotubes, followed by annealing treatment under an argon environment. Thanks to the presence of highly conductive and mechanically robust carbon on the outer surface, NTs-WS@C nanocomposites show improved electrochemical performance compared with bare NTs-WS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA variety of colloidal chemical approaches has been developed in the last few decades for the controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials in either water or organic solvents. Besides the precursors, the solvents, reducing agents, and the choice of surfactants are crucial for tuning the composition, morphology and other properties of the resulting nanoparticles. The ligands employed include thiols, amines, carboxylic acids, phosphines and phosphine oxides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNitrogen reduction to ammonia under ambient conditions has received important attention, in which high-performing catalysts are sought. A new, facile, and seedless solvothermal method based on a high-temperature reduction route has been developed in this work for the production of bismuthene nanostructures with excellent performance in the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Different reaction conditions were tested, such as the type of solvent, surfactant, reducing agent, reaction temperature, and time, as well as bismuth precursor source, resulting in distinct particle morphologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPterygium is a progressive disease of the human eye arising from sub-conjunctival tissue and extending onto the cornea. Due to its invasive growth, pterygium can reach the pupil compromising visual function. Currently available medical treatments have limited success in suppressing efficiently the disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopper selenide-sulfide nanostructures were synthesized using metal-organic chemical routes in the presence of Cu- and Se-precursors as well as S-containing compounds. Our goal was first to examine if the initial Cu/Se 1:1 molar proportion in the starting reagents would always lead to equiatomic composition in the final product, depending on other synthesis parameters which affect the reagents reactivity. Such reaction conditions were the types of precursors, surfactants and other reagents, as well as the synthesis temperature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInorganic nanoparticles (INPs) have dynamically emerged in plant protection. The uptake of INPs by plants mostly depends on the size, chemical composition, morphology, and the type of coating on their surface. Herein, hybrid ensembles of glycol-coated bimetallic CuZn and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) have been solvothermally synthesized in the presence of DEG and PEG, physicochemically characterized, and tested as nano-fungicides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMagnetically induced hyperthermia has reached a milestone in medical nanoscience and in phase III clinical trials for cancer treatment. As it relies on the heat generated by magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) when exposed to an external alternating magnetic field, the heating ability of these NPs is of paramount importance, so is their synthesis. We present a simple and fast method to produce iron oxide nanostructures with excellent heating ability that are colloidally stable in water.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComposite materials are made from two or more constituent materials with distinct physical or chemical properties that, when combined, produce a material with characteristics which are at least to some degree different from its individual components. Nanocomposite materials are composed of different materials of which at least one has nanoscale dimensions. Common types of nanocomposites consist of a combination of two different elements, with a nanoparticle that is linked to, or surrounded by, another organic or inorganic material, for example in a core-shell or heterostructure configuration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report the synthesis of nanocomposites made of silica nanoparticles whose six surface dimples are decorated with magnetic maghemite nanoparticles and their use for detection and recovery of arsenic in aqueous media. Precursor silica nanoparticles have aminated polystyrene chains at the bottom of their dimples and the maghemite nanoparticles are surface functionalized with carboxylic acid groups in two steps: amination with 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, then derivatization with succinic anhydride in the presence of triethylamine. In the end, the colloidal assembly consists of the regioselective grafting of the carboxylic acid-modified iron oxide nanoparticles onto the 6-dimple silica nanoparticles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBinary, ternary, and other high-order plasmonic heteromers possess remarkable physical and chemical properties, enabling them to be used in numerous applications. The seed-mediated approach is one of the most promising and versatile routes to produce plasmonic heteromers. Selective growth of one or multiple domains on desired sites of noble metal, semiconductor, or magnetic seeds would form desired heteromeric nanostructures with multiple functionalities and synergistic effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia linked to the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques-fibrils that impair cognitive functions. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are emerging as promising tools for the crusade against AD owning to appropriate biocompatibility and facile functionalization that can lead to theranostic agents. Herein, the fabrication of a multimodal (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluorescence imaging, and drug carrier) magnetic nanoemulsion (MNE) is reported as an AD theranostic candidate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA millifluidic reactor with a 0.76 mm internal diameter was utilized for the synthesis of monodisperse, high magnetic moment, iron carbide (FeC) nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)) in 1-octadecene in the presence of oleylamine at 22 min nominal residence time. The effect of reaction conditions (temperature and pressure) on the size, morphology, crystal structure, and magnetic properties of the nanoparticles was investigated.
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