Detecting polystyrene nanoplastics using filter paper-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

This work presents a novel filter paper-based method using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), for detecting polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs). The SERS system used a simple mixture of spherical Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and 20 nm nanoplastics deposited onto a filter paper which offered a detection limit of 10 μg mL with a sample volume of 50 μL, and in a rare case 5.0 μg mL (with four aliquits of 50 μL).

Competing magnetic states and-loop splitting in core-shell NiO nanoparticles.

Magnetic relaxation in a nanoparticles system depends on the intra-particle interactions, reversal mechanism, the anisotropy field, easy axis distribution, particle volume, lattice defects, surface defects, materials composite, etc. Here we report the competing magnetic states between superparamagnetic blocking and Néel transition states in 14 nm core-shell NiO nanoparticles. A crossover temperature of 50 K was observed for both these states from the zero field cooled/field cooled magnetization curves taken at different fields.

Magnetic homogeneity in Fe-Mn co-doped NiO nanoparticles.

The effect of Fe and Mn co-doping on the magnetic properties of the antiferromagnetic (AFM) NiO nanoparticles which offer large potential for different magnetic applications have been studied. The Rietveld refinement fitting of powder x-ray diffractometry (XRD) patterns confirmed the phase formation of face-centred cubic crystal structure of NiO and average crystallite size lies in the short range of 32-38 nm. The cavity and broadband ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) measurements taken at room temperature demonstrate the smaller local magnetic inhomogeneity for 4%Mn-4%Fe co-doped NiO nanoparticles as compared to undoped, single doped and co-doped with different concentration NiO nanoparticles.

Tuning the plasmonic response of TiN nanoparticles synthesised by the transferred arc plasma technique.

Titanium nitride exhibits plasmonic behaviour in the visible and NIR region. Combined with a refractory nature, it can be an attractive alternate plasmonic material useful in many applications. Despite the plethora of methods to produce TiN nanoparticles, it remains challenging to generate high quality TiN nanoparticles efficiently.

Single-step ambient-air synthesis of graphene from renewable precursors as electrochemical genosensor.

Thermal chemical vapour deposition techniques for graphene fabrication, while promising, are thus far limited by resource-consuming and energy-intensive principles. In particular, purified gases and extensive vacuum processing are necessary for creating a highly controlled environment, isolated from ambient air, to enable the growth of graphene films. Here we exploit the ambient-air environment to enable the growth of graphene films, without the need for compressed gases.

An Investigation of Nurses' Job Satisfaction in a Private Hospital and Its Correlates.

Background: Nurses' job satisfaction and job stress are important issues regarding their turnovers. While there are some recent descriptive studies on job satisfaction in public hospitals, very limited research was found on this topic in private hospital setting. It is worth to examine the job satisfaction of nurses and its correlates in such a specific hospital context in Hong Kong, by which the findings can be compared with those in public hospitals, and across countries.

Multifunctional graphene micro-islands: Rapid, low-temperature plasma-enabled synthesis and facile integration for bioengineering and genosensing applications.

Here, we present a rapid, low-temperature (200°C) plasma-enabled synthesis of graphene micro-islands (GMs). Morphological analyses of GMs by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) feature a uniform and open-networked array of aggregated graphene sheets. Structural and surface chemical characterizations by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) support the presence of thin graphitic edges and reactive oxygen functional groups.

Hybrid Carbon-Based Nanostructured Platforms for the Advanced Bioreactors.

Mankind faces several global challenges such as chronic and acute hunger, global poverty, energy deficiency and environment conservation. Common biotechnologies based on batch, fluidbed and other similar processes are now extensively used for the production of a wide range of products such as antibiotics, biofuels, cultured and fermented food products. Unfortunately, these processes suffer from low efficiency, high energy demand, low controllability and rapid biocatalyst degradation by microbiological attack, and thus still are not capable of seriously addressing the global hunger and energy deficiency challenges.

Carbon nanotubes on nanoporous alumina: from surface mats to conformal pore filling.

Unlabelled: Control over nucleation and growth of multi-walled carbon nanotubes in the nanochannels of porous alumina membranes by several combinations of posttreatments, namely exposing the membrane top surface to atmospheric plasma jet and application of standard S1813 photoresist as an additional carbon precursor, is demonstrated. The nanotubes grown after plasma treatment nucleated inside the channels and did not form fibrous mats on the surface. Thus, the nanotube growth mode can be controlled by surface treatment and application of additional precursor, and complex nanotube-based structures can be produced for various applications.

Synergistic fusion of vertical graphene nanosheets and carbon nanotubes for high-performance supercapacitor electrodes.

Graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are attractive electrode materials for supercapacitors. However, challenges such as the substrate-limited growth of CNTs, nanotube bundling in liquid electrolytes, under-utilized basal planes, and stacking of graphene sheets have so far impeded their widespread application. Here we present a hybrid structure formed by the direct growth of CNTs onto vertical graphene nanosheets (VGNS).

Atmospheric microplasma-functionalized 3D microfluidic strips within dense carbon nanotube arrays confine Au nanodots for SERS sensing.

An atmospheric microplasma jet produces three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic channels on dense arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes, which confines Au nanodot aqueous solution. The resulting hybrid 3D nanostructure is exploited as an effective microscopic area-selective sensing platform based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

3-Orders-of-magnitude density control of single-walled carbon nanotube networks by maximizing catalyst activation and dosing carbon supply.

Tailoring the density of random single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) networks is of paramount importance for various applications, yet it remains a major challenge due to the insufficient catalyst activation in most growth processes. Here we report on a simple and effective method to maximise the number of active catalyst nanoparticles using catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD). By modulating short pulses of acetylene into a methane-based CCVD growth process, the density of SWCNTs is dramatically increased by up to three orders of magnitude without increasing the catalyst density and degrading the nanotube quality.

Controlled synthesis of a large fraction of metallic single-walled carbon nanotube and semiconducting carbon nanowire networks.

Controlled synthesis of both single-walled carbon nanotube and carbon nanowire networks using the same CVD reactor and Fe/Al(2)O(3) catalyst by slightly altering the hydrogenation and temperature conditions is demonstrated. Structural, bonding and electrical characterization using SEM, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, and temperature-dependent resistivity measurements suggest that the nanotubes are of a high quality and a large fraction (well above the common 33% and possibly up to 75%) of them are metallic. On the other hand, the carbon nanowires are amorphous and semiconducting and feature a controlled sp(2)/sp(3) ratio.