Search results for "65"
showing 10 items of 1111 documents
Not always what closes best opens better: mesoporous nanoparticles capped with organic gates
2019
ABSTRACT Four types of calcined MCM-41 silica nanoparticles, loaded with dyes and capped with different gating ensembles are prepared and characterized. N1 and N2 nanoparticles are loaded with rhodamine 6G and capped with bulky poly(ethylene glycol) derivatives bearing ester groups (1 and 2). N3-N4 nanoparticles are loaded with sulforhodamine B and capped with self-immolative derivatives bearing ester moieties. In the absence of esterase enzyme negligible cargo release from N1, N3 and N4 nanoparticles is observed whereas a remarkable release for N2 is obtained most likely due to the formation of an irregular coating on the outer surface of the nanoparticles. In contrast, a marked delivery i…
Charge injection and trapping at perovskite interfaces with organic hole transporting materials of different ionization energies
2019
The extraction of photogenerated holes from CH3NH3PbI3 is crucial in perovskite solar cells. Understanding the main parameters that influence this process is essential to design materials and devices with improved efficiency. A series of vacuum deposited hole transporting materials (HTMs) of different ionization energies, used in efficient photovoltaic devices, are studied here by means of femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. We find that ultrafast charge injection from the perovskite into the different HTMs (<100 fs) competes with carrier thermalization and occurs independently of their ionization energy. Our results prove that injection takes place from hot states in the valence…
Design and physicochemical characterization of poly(amidoamine) nanoparticles and the toxicological evaluation in human endothelial cells: applicatio…
2013
In this study, we investigated nanoparticles formulated by self-assembly of a biodegradable poly(amidoamine) (PAA) and a fluorescently labeled peptide, in their capacity to internalize in endothelial cells and deliver the peptide, with possible applications for brain drug delivery. The nanoparticles were characterized in terms of size, surface charge, and loading efficiency, and were applied on human cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (Huvec) cells. Cell-internalization and cytotoxicity experiments showed that the PAA-based nanocomplexes were essentially nontoxic, and the peptide was successfully internalized into cells. The result…
Tailoring of the electrical and thermal properties using ultra-short period non-symmetric superlattices
2016
Thermoelectric modules based on half-Heusler compounds offer a cheap and clean way to create eco-friendly electrical energy from waste heat. Here we study the impact of the period composition on the electrical and thermal properties in non-symmetric superlattices, where the ratio of components varies according to (TiNiSn)���:(HfNiSn)���������, and 0 ��� n ��� 6 unit cells. The thermal conductivity (��) showed a strong dependence on the material content achieving a minimum value for n = 3, whereas the highest value of the figure of merit ZT was achieved for n = 4. The measured �� can be well modeled using non-symmetric strain relaxation applied to the model of the series of thermal resistanc…
Pulsed laser deposition of epitaxial yttrium iron garnet films with low Gilbert damping and bulk-like magnetization
2014
Yttrium iron garnet (YIG, Y [subscript 3]Fe[subscript 5]O[subscript 12]) films have been epitaxially grown on Gadolinium Gallium Garnet (GGG, Gd[subscript 3]Ga[subscript 5]O[subscript 12]) substrates with (100) orientation using pulsed laser deposition. The films were single-phase, epitaxial with the GGG substrate, and the root-mean-square surface roughness varied between 0.14 nm and 0.2 nm. Films with thicknesses ranging from 17 to 200 nm exhibited low coercivity (<2 Oe), near-bulk room temperature saturation moments (∼135 emu cm[superscript −3]), in-plane easy axis, and damping parameters as low as 2.2 × 10[superscript −4]. These high quality YIG thin films are useful in the investigation…
Charge carrier concentration optimization of thermoelectric p-type half-Heusler compounds
2015
The carrier concentration in the p-type half-Heusler compound Ti0.3Zr0.35Hf0.35CoSb1−xSnx was optimized, which is a fundamental approach to enhance the performance of thermoelectric materials. The optimum carrier concentration is reached with a substitution level x = 0.15 of Sn, which yields the maximum power factor, 2.69 × 10−3 W m−1 K−2, and the maximum ZT = 0.8. This is an enhancement of about 40% in the power factor and the figure of merit compared to samples with x = 0.2. To achieve low thermal conductivities in half-Heusler compounds, intrinsic phase separation is an important key point. The present work addresses the influence of different preparation procedures on the quality and re…
Discontinuous FRP-Confinement of Masonry Columns
2020
Recent seismic events, all over the world, demonstrated that masonry constructions are prone to brittle collapses when shear or compression capacity is reached. It is clear that, in many real cases, masonry columns need to be strengthened for enhancing their load-carrying capacity and to develop a more ductile response. The Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) confinement of masonry columns is a well-known technique that may produce these advantages. Unfortunately, full-wrapping insulates the column from the environment; so interstitial humidity can easily occur and cause the acceleration of the masonry's decay. In order to prevent it, partial-confinement is commonly assessed instead of total-j…
Lessons Learned on the Tensile and Bond Behavior of Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) Composites
2020
Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) composites represent an effective, compatible and cost-efficient solution for strengthening and retrofitting existing structures. A strong research effort was done to investigate the tensile and bond properties of these materials, as well as the overall behaviour of strengthened members. A Round Robin Test was organized by Rilem TC 250-CSM on 28 FRCM composites comprising basalt, carbon, glass, PBO, aramid and steel textiles, embedded in either cement, lime or geopolymer mortars, to collect an experimental dataset and define test protocols. This paper collects the outcomes of this study to highlight fundamental properties of FRCM and to investiga…
Constitutive Numerical Model of FRCM Strips Under Traction
2020
In this paper, the tensile behavior of Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) strips is investigated through Finite Element (FE) models. The most adopted numerical modeling approaches for the simulation of the fiber-matrix interface law are described. Among them, the cohesive model is then used for the generation of FE models which are able to simulate the response under traction of FRCM strips tested in laboratory whose results are available in the technical literature. Tests on basalt, PBO and carbon coated FRCM specimens are taken into account also considering different mechanical ratios of the textile reinforcement. The comparison between FE results and experimental data allows val…
Structural stability of DNA origami nanostructures under application-specific conditions
2018
With the introduction of the DNA origami technique, it became possible to rapidly synthesize almost arbitrarily shaped molecular nanostructures at nearly stoichiometric yields. The technique furthermore provides absolute addressability in the sub-nm range, rendering DNA origami nanostructures highly attractive substrates for the controlled arrangement of functional species such as proteins, dyes, and nanoparticles. Consequently, DNAorigami nanostructures have found applications in numerous areas of fundamental and applied research, ranging from drug delivery to biosensing to plasmonics to inorganic materials synthesis. Since many of those applications rely on structurally intact, well-defin…