MICROWAVE-ASSISTED FUNCTIONALIZATION OF HALLOYSITE NANOTUBE SURFACE

Halloysite, Al2Si2O5·2H2O, is a naturally occurring two-layered alluminosilicate, chemically similar to kaolin, which has a predominantly high-aspect-ratio hollow tubular structure in the submicrometer range and an internal diameter in the nanometer range. The size of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), generally varies from 50 to 70 nm in external diameter, ca. 15 nm diameter lumen, and 0.5 to 1 μm in length. Halloysite tubes have aluminol (Al-OH) groups on the internal surface and siloxan groups (Si-O-Si) on the external surface. The very large diameter of the halloysite lumen makes it potentially suitable for the accommodation of a range of guests. In recent reports, for example, the mesoporous…

INTERACTIONS BETWEEN NANOCLAYS AND BIOPOLYMERS EVIDENCED BY EXTENSIVE THERMODYNAMIC AND STRUCTURAL STUDIES

Paper consolidation with Halloysite nanotubes. TGA, DMA and contact angle investigations

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION BY THERMOGRAVIMETRIC ANALYSIS OF A NEW DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM BASED ON HALLOYSITE NANOTUBES

GALACTOSE-FUNCTIONALISED POLYMERIC MICELLES AS HEPATOCYTE-TARGETED CARRIERS

THERMOMECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION UNDER CONTROLLED HUMIDITY CONDITIONS OF BIONANOCOMPOSITES BASED ON HALLOYSITE NANOTUBES

PEGYLATED PHOSPHOLIPID-POLYASPARTAMIDE COPOLYMERS AS SELF-ASSEMBLING COLLOIDAL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS

WOOD TREATMENT BASED ON HALLOYSITE/HYDROXYPROPYL CELLULOSE COMPOSITE. THERMOMECHANICAL AND POROSITY CHARACTERIZATION

NANOCLAYS AND BIOPOLYMERS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION AND IN SOLID STATE. INTERACTIONS AND STRUCTURE

Tuning the Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Adsorption and Desorption at the Nanoparticle/Water Interface by Temperature and Inorganic Salts

Waterlogged archaeological wood: evaluation of consolidation treatments by calorimetry

DSC AND TGA TO EVALUATE THE SELECTIVE IMPREGNATION OF WATERLOGGED ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOODS WITH POLY(ETHYLENE) GLYCOLS MIXTURES

Within the cultural heritage field the wood conservation of waterlogged archaeological objects aims at preventing the collapsing of the wooden structure (upon drying) the degradation of which is related to the Taxon but also to the chemical and biological nature of the site. The refilling of the wood cavities with a consolidant, which confers robustness and stability, is an interesting strategy for the conservation methods of waterlogged archaeological objects. To this purpose, using different impregnation methods, waterlogged archaeological woods were consolidated by using aqueous mixtures of poly(ethylene) glycols with different molecular weights (PEG 400 and PEG 4000) as well as mixtures…

LIPID AND POLYMERIC NANOSTRUCTURES FOR BRAIN DRUG DELIVERY AND TARGETING

Clay nanotubes for paper consolidation

Bionanocomposites based on pectins and halloysite nanotubes

GLYCOCLUSTER A BASE DI NANOTUBI DI ALLOSITE COME DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM

Le interazioni carboidrati–lectine giocano un ruolo fondamentale in diversi processi biologici come ad esempio nelle infiammazioni, embriogenesi, sviluppo cellulare, etc..1 Sebbene l’interazione tra lectine e carboidrati sia un’interazione debole, la possibilità di instaurare contemporaneamente interazioni multiple tra differenti unità di lectine e differenti unità di carboidrati ne aumenta l’efficienza e la selettività.2 Nella presente comunicazione si riporta la sintesi di nuovi glicocluster basati su nanotubi di allosite, a cui sono state chimicamente legate unità ciclodestriniche che presentano sul bordo largo unità zuccherine quali galattosio, mannosio e lattosio. I materiali ottenuti …

Nanocomposite based on Multi-Macrocyclic Receptors and Halloysite for Volatile Organic Compounds Capture

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals released to the atmosphere by natural and anthropogenic sources. VOCs are hazardous air pollutants and promote formation of photochemical smog. Variety of chemicals released from pharmaceutical industry includes priority pollutants like benzene, toluene, and dichloromethane. The aim of this work was at designing, preparing and characterizing from the physico-chemical view-point a pseudo nano-sponge with low environmental impact for pollutant removal. As adsorbent material, a nanocomposite based on nanoclay and cucurbiturils, which are biocompatible materials, were investigated. Clay minerals (e.g. montmorillonite and kaolin) are important comp…

Thermal methods to evaluate consolidation of artworks

Clay nanotubes/ionic surfactant: Smart hybrid nanomaterials for the solubilization of hydrophobic compounds in aqueous media

Bionanocomposites Based on Pectins and Halloysite Nanotubes: from the Structure to the Properties

Smart inulin-based polycationic nanodevices for siRNA delivery

The advances of short interfering RNA (siRNA) mediated therapy provide a powerful option for the treatment of many diseases by silencing the expression of targeted genes including cancer development and progression. Inulin is a very simple and biocompatible polysaccharide proposed by our groups to produce interesting delivery systems for Nucleic Acid Based Drugs (NABDs), such as siRNA, either as polycations able to give polyplexes and polymeric coatings for nanosystems having a metallic core. In this research field, different functionalizing groups were linked to the inulin backbone with specific aims including oligoamine such as Ethylendiammine (EDA), Diethylediamine (DETA), Spermine, (SPM…

HYALURONIC ACID-BETA CYCLODEXTRINS HYDOGEL FOR THE TREATMENT OF SEVERE CORNEAL DISEASES

Materiali ibridi a base di nanotubi di allosite per la rimozione d’inquinanti

L’allosite (HNT) è un interessante materiale argilloso allumino-silicato naturale, non tossico e biocompatibile, con la caratteristica forma tubolare cava dotata di parziale carica positiva interna e negativa esterna.Combinando le peculiarità di un composto organico con le proprietà di un materiale inorganico, è possibile ottenere sistemi ibridi organici–inorganici con interessanti proprietà e vasti campi di applicazione. Sono un esempio delle “nanospugne” capaci di adsorbire efficacemente potenziali inquinanti. In questo contesto sono stati preparati, dei materiali ibridi “spugna” costituiti da unità ciclodestriniche e allosite e ancora un sistema ibrido HNT-Cucurbit[8]uril. Il primo possi…

Halloysite based material for enhanced solubilization

Clay Nanotube/Perfluorinated Surfactant Hybrid Materials

NANOSTRUCTURED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS BASED ON POLYAMINOACIDIC DERIVATIVES

BIONANOCOMPOSITES BASED ON NATURAL POLYMERS AND NANOCLAYS. AN EXTENDED PHYSICO-CHEMICAL STUDY TO EVIDENCE THE ROLE OF THE POLYMER NATURE AND THE NANOCLAY SHAPE

Changes in surgicaL behaviOrs dUring the CoviD-19 pandemic. The SICE CLOUD19 Study

Abstract Background The spread of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes COVID-19 disease, profoundly impacted the surgical community. Recommendations have been published to manage patients needing surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic. This survey, under the aegis of the Italian Society of Endoscopic Surgery, aims to analyze how Italian surgeons have changed their practice during the pandemic. Methods The authors designed an online survey that was circulated for completion to the Italian departments of general surgery registered in the Italian Ministry of Health database in December 2020. Questions were divided into three sections: hospital organization, screening policies, and safety profile of…

The THYCOVIT (Thyroid Surgery during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy) study: results from a nationwide, multicentric, case-controlled study

AbstractThe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a disruption of surgical care. The aim of this multi-centric, retrospective study was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on surgical activity for thyroid disease among the Italian Units of Endocrine Surgery. Three phases of the pandemic were identified based on the epidemiological situation and the public measures adopted from the Italian Government (1st phase: from 9th March to 3rd May 2020; 2nd phase: from 4th May to 14th June; 3rd phase: from 15th June to 31st). The patients operated upon during these phases were compared to those who underwent surgery during the same period of the previous year. Overall, 3892 patients from 28 …

Halloysite Nanotubes as Support for Metal-Based Catalysts

Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are a natural, biocompatible, environmental friendly and cheap double-layered aluminosilicate mineral that has a predominantly hollow tubular structure. The general stoichiometry of halloysite is Al2Si2O5·4(H2O). The layer units consist of a tetrahedral SiOH sheet stacked with an edge shared octahedral AlO6 sheet with an internal aluminol group AlOH. A water layer exists between the adjacent two layers. Thanks to their structural features, HNTs are suitable for a potential application as support for catalytic composites. Recently, we reported the synthesis of novel palladium-based catalytic systems using halloysite nanotubes modified with imidazolium or triazoliu…

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on surgery for thyroid cancer in Italy: nationwide retrospective study

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Dispersioni di nanoargille in biofilms. Il ruolo chiave del polimero nel controllo della struttura.

Negli ultimi anni è notevolmente cresciuto l’interesse nei confronti dei nanocompositi. ossia di materiali caratterizzati da una matrice polimerica nella quale sono disperse particelle di dimensione nanometrica. In questo ambito lo sviluppo di sistemi ottenuti dalla combinazione di un biopolimero e di una nanoargilla può costituire una via interessante per realizzare nuovi green materials tecnologicamente interessanti. In virtù di questa considerazione è stato condotto uno studio chimico-fisico su dispersioni di nanotubi di allosite (HNTs) e nanodischi di laponite RD in matrici biopolimeriche (idrossipropilcellulosa e pectina con basso grado di esterificazione) sia in fase acquosa sia in fa…

STEALTH NANOPARTICLES BASED ON A POLYASPARTAMIDE

FUNZIONALIZZAZIONE DELLA SUPERFICIE DELL’ALLOSITE MEDIANTE RISCALDAMENTO A MICROONDE

L’allosite (Al2Si2O5•2H2O), è un alluminosilicato naturale, chimicamente simile al caolino; essa ha una struttura tubolare cava dell’ordine dei micrometri (0.5-1 μm ) e un diametro interno dell’ordine dei nanometri (15 nm ). I nanotubi di allosite (HNT) presentano sulla superficie esterna gruppi SiO2 mentre su quella interna gruppi AlOH. Viste le caratteristiche strutturali, HNT trovano applicazioni come Host, fungendo in alcuni casi da nanoreattori. Tali applicazioni sono però limitate dall’idrofilia della superficie, sia interna che esterna. In questo lavoro è stata sviluppata una nuova metodologia sintetica che prevede l’ultilizzo delle microonde per ancorare organosilani come precursori…

Micelle polimeriche galattosilate contenenti Sorafenib: preparazione, caratterizzazione e studi di biodistribuzione

STEALTH NANOPARTICLES OBTAINED FROM A PEGHYLATED POLYASPARTAMIDE

Calorimetry: a Valuable Tool for Emerging Smart Nanomaterials

It is well known that calorimetry is a powerful technique to determine the complete energetics (standard free energy, enthalpy and entropy) of interaction processes. We are now assisting to the increment of the use of nano-calorimetry, which appears rather versatile because it can evidence weak interactions quickly and accurately and, furthermore, needs very small amounts of material. Unfortunately, over the years the calorimetry has been applied to restricted fields so that it has been underemployed in studying smart nanomaterials (polypseudorotaxanes, polymeric aggregates, surface functionalized nanoparticles, nanocomposites, etc.) to which a tremendous scientific interest has been recent…

Cationic Polyaspartamide as siRNA delivery systems for down regulation of a proinflammatory cytokine

THERMOGRAVIMETRIC STUDIES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOODS

CHEMICAL MODIFICATIONS OF HALLOYSITE NANOTUBES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SMART NANOMATERIALS

Halloysite nanoclays (HNTs) are promising nanomaterials because of their versatile properties, such as hollow tubular morphology and tunable surface chemistry. HNTs are biocompatible, no toxic and abundantly available at low cost. Due to these characteristics HNTs are suitable for development of hybrid sustainable materials, which are perspective for wastewater remediation, green packaging and drug delivery. HNTs are quite polydisperse in size with a length of ca. 1 m, while the external diameter and the lumen range between 50-80 nm and 10-15 nm, respectively. Chemically, halloysite is composed of gibbsite octahedral sheet (Al-OH) groups on the inner surface and siloxane (Si−O−Si) groups o…

IS CALORIMETRY A CRUCIAL TECHNIQUE FOR STUDYING INNOVATIVE NANOMATERIALS?

It is well known that calorimetry is a powerful technique to determine the complete energetics of interaction processes. Unfortunately, over the years the calorimetry has been applied to restricted fields so that it has been underemployed in studying smart nanomaterials (polypseudorotaxanes, polymeric aggregates, surface functionalized nanoparticles, nanocomposites, etc.) to which a tremendous scientific interest has been recently addressed. Within this topic some relevant recent results from our laboratory will be described in the following. As concerns the supramolecular chemistry field, we exploited strategies to design stable and stimuli responsive polypseudorotaxanes based on cyclodext…

MACROMOLECULAR CONJUGATES OF ANTIVIRAL DRUGS FOR LIVER TARGETED THERAPY