Search results for " Nanoparticle"
showing 10 items of 936 documents
Antifouling Mortars for Underwater Restoration
2022
This research has focused on the assessment of the compositional features and mechanical and antifouling performances of two different mortars formulated for an underwater setting, and which contain Mg(OH)2 as an antifouling agent. Regarding the mechanical characterization, the uniaxial compressive strength and flexural strength were measured. The composition of the materials was explored by differential thermal/thermogravimetric analysis (DTA-TG), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRPD), and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) coupled with EDS microanalysis. The assessment of the biological colonization was evaluated with colorimetric analysis and image analysis. The results suggest that both m…
Physicochemical investigation of surfactant-coated gold nanoparticles synthesized in the confined space of dry reversed micelles
2006
Abstract Gold nanoparticle/surfactant composites have been synthesized by a novel reduction reaction in the confined space of dry sodium bis(2- ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) or lecithin reversed micelles dispersed in n-heptane and cyclohexane, respectively. The reaction was carried out by adding an opportune amount of anhydrous hydrazine/tetrahydrofuran solution to a suspension of HAuCl4-containing dry reversed micelles dispersed in organic solvent. UV–vis investigation ascertained the formation of stable metal gold nanoparticles and the analysis of FT-IR spectra highlighted the formation of an oriented surfactant monolayer at the nanoparticle surface. Simple evaporation under vacuum of t…
The Influence of Nanoparticle Shape on Protein Corona Formation
2020
Nanoparticles have become an important utility in many areas of medical treatment such as targeted drug and treatment delivery as well as imaging and diagnostics. These advances require a complete understanding of nanoparticles' fate once placed in the body. Upon exposure to blood, proteins adsorb onto the nanoparticles surface and form a protein corona, which determines the particles' biological fate. This study reports on the protein corona formation from blood serum and plasma on spherical and rod‐shaped nanoparticles. These two types of mesoporous silica nanoparticles have identical chemistry, porosity, surface potential, and size in the y ‐dimension, one being a sphere and the other a …
Harnessing Molecular Fluorophores in the Carbon Dots Matrix: The Case of Safranin O
2022
The origin of fluorescence in carbon dots (C-dots) is still a puzzling phenomenon. The emission is, in most of the cases, due to molecular fluorophores formed in situ during the synthesis. The carbonization during C-dots processing does not allow, however, a fine control of the properties and makes finding the source of the fluorescence a challenging task. In this work, we present a strategy to embed a pre-formed fluorescent molecule, safranin O dye, into an amorphous carbonaceous dot obtained by citric acid carbonization. The dye is introduced in the melted solution of citric acid and after pyrolysis remains incorporated in a carbonaceous matrix to form red-emitting C-dots that are strongl…
Design and Characterization of Effective Ag, Pt and AgPt Nanoparticles to H₂O₂ Electrosensing from Scrapped Printed Electrodes.
2019
The use of disposable screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) has extraordinarily grown in the last years. In this paper, conductive inks from scrapped SPEs were removed by acid leaching, providing high value feedstocks suitable for the electrochemical deposition of Ag, Pt and Ag core-Pt shell-like bimetallic (AgPt) nanoparticles, onto screen-printed carbon electrodes (ML@SPCEs, M = Ag, Pt or AgPt, L = metal nanoparticles from leaching solutions). ML@SPCEs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results were compared to those obtained when metal nanoparticles were synthesised using standard solutions of metal salts (MS@…
Toxicity of silver nanoparticles to Lumbriculus variegatus is a function of dissolved silver and promoted by low sediment pH
2018
Toxicity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to benthic organisms is a major concern. The use of AgNPs in industry and consumer products leads to increasing release of AgNPs into the aquatic environment—sediments being the major sink. Effects of sediment pH on the toxicity of AgNPs to benthic oligochaeta Lumbriculus variegatus were studied in a 23‐d toxicity test. Artificially prepared sediments (pH 5 and 7) were spiked with varying concentrations of uncoated AgNP, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)‐coated AgNP, and silver nitrate (AgNO3) as dissolved Ag reference. Number of individuals and biomass change were used as endpoints for the toxicity. The toxic effects were related to the bioaccessible conce…
New hydroxyapatite- and selenium-based nanoformulations as potential antimicrobial tools for orthopedic implants
Polymeric nanoparticles for siRNA delivery: Production and applications
2017
Gene therapy through the use of siRNA and a polymeric carrier are becoming an efficient therapeutic option to conventional pharmaceutical formulations for the treatment of deadly diseases, such as cancer, pulmonary, ocular and neurodegenerative diseases. However, several considerations regarding the stability, formulation, and efficacy have to be faced up until these systems could be considered to be a marketable pharmaceutical products for to extend siRNA application to clinical practice. This review is focused on the key challenges of siRNA therapeutics, with special attention on the faced obstacles and on the formulation-related difficulties, providing a list of requirements needed for o…
Cationic solid lipid nanoparticles complexed with genetic material for liver tumor treatment
2015
Concept Gene therapy is a growing field of medicine with great potential for the treatment of several diseases and it is based on the delivery of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, etc.,) to specific cells. To achieve their therapeutic effects, the nucleic acids need to cross several biological barriers and be protected from the degradation by nucleases, present in biological fluids and intracellular compartments, to successfully gain access to their intracellular targets. To overcome these hurdles, it is necessary to deliver the genetic material with biocompatible carriers able to facilitate its translocation across the cell membranes and protect it from being degraded while circulating in the blood…
Structural properties of core and surface of silica nanoparticles investigated by Raman spectroscopy
2013
We studied the experimental Raman spectra of various commercial silica nanoparticles of average diameter from 7 to 40 nm and specific surface from 50 to 380 m^2/g. We found that the peculiarities of the particles Raman spectra systematically depend on their specific surface. In detail, the peak position of the R band at about 440 cm ^-1 shifts towards high wavenumbers following an almost linear dependence on the specific surface. Similarly, the amplitudes of the D1 and D2 bands, at about 495 and 605 cm ^-1, respectively, increase linearly with the same quantity. Our results are interpreted in the frame of the shell model for the nanoparticles clarifying that the network of the core of the n…