Search results for "Fondamenti"
showing 10 items of 542 documents
Hydrogel films engineered in a mesoscopically ordered structure and responsive to ethanol vapors
2014
Abstract Responsive hydrogels filling the interstitial spaces of photonic crystals can form mesoscopically structured materials, which exhibit reversible shifts in the Bragg diffracted light as a response of environmental changes. These materials can be used to generate chemical or biochemical sensors. The present work reports on the synthesis and characterization of ethanol responsive hydrogels that can be used in the design of novel breathalyzers. The dynamic mechanical behavior of the macroscopic hydrogels and their swelling features in the presence of different liquids or vapors have been investigated to orientate the choice of the best responsive material and curing process. The swelli…
Smart hydrogels for novel optical functions
2007
Nanocomposites of inherently conductive polyaniline (PANT) within a highly hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based hydrogel have been produced by coupling a conventional dispersion chemical oxidative polymerization to a subsequent high energy irradiation step, in order to convert the polymer stabilizing the aqueous dispersion, namely the PVA, into a highly water swollen hydrogel incorporating the PANT particles. The incorporation of the electroactive and "pH-sensitive" polymer into a transparent and highly permeable hydrogel matrix has been pursued as a route to the development of a novel class of potentially biocompatible, smart hydrogels that can respond to changes of the surrounding en…
Inherently fluorescent polyaniline nanoparticles in a dynamic landscape
2012
Abstract In this paper we report for the first time on the emissive behavior of two polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticle systems produced via oxidative chemical polymerization in the presence of either poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) or chitosan as polymeric stabilizers in water. The emission from PANI nanoparticles is irreversibly quenched by an increase of pH of the suspending medium from acid to neutral (chitosan–PANI) or alkaline (PVA–PANI). Conversely, PANI nanorods synthesized in the same conditions of the above, but in presence of poly(N-vinyl pyrrolidone), is not emissive at any pH. The role of the polymeric surfactant as a soft template is key in controlling the morphology and the properties …
Micro- to Nanoscale Bio-Hybrid Hydrogels Engineered by Ionizing Radiation
2021
Bio-hybrid hydrogels consist of a water-swollen hydrophilic polymer network encapsulating or conjugating single biomolecules, or larger and more complex biological constructs like whole cells. By modulating at least one dimension of the hydrogel system at the micro- or nanoscale, the activity of the biological component can be extremely upgraded with clear advantages for the development of therapeutic or diagnostic micro- and nano-devices. Gamma or e-beam irradiation of polymers allow a good control of the chemistry at the micro-/nanoscale with minimal recourse to toxic reactants and solvents. Another potential advantage is to obtain simultaneous sterilization when the absorbed doses are wi…
Co3O4 particles grown over nanocrystalline CeO2: influence of precipitation agents and calcination temperature on the catalytic activity for methane …
2015
Crystalline cobalt oxides were prepared by a precipitation method using three different precipitation agents, (NH4)(2)CO3, Na2CO3 and CO(NH2)(2). Cobalt oxide nanoparticles corresponding to a Co3O4 loading of 30 wt% were also deposited over high-surface area nanocrystalline ceria by the same precipitation agents. The effect of calcination temperature, 350 or 650 degrees C, on the morphological and structural properties was evaluated. Characterization by BET, XRD, SEM, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, H-2-TPR, XPS and NH3-TPD was performed and the catalytic properties were explored in the methane oxidation reaction. The nature of the precipitation agent strongly influenced the textural properties of…
Photocatalytic CO2 reduction in gas–solid regime in the presence of H2O by using GaP/TiO2 composite as photocatalyst under simulated solar light
2014
GaP/TiO2 composites exhibited a remarkable photocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction in the presence of water vapor producing methane. By decreasing the GaP:TiO2 mass ratio an increase in the photocatalytic activity of the composite was observed for up to a 1:10 mass ratio. The photocatalytic activity of the composite can be attributed to the band structures of the solids as well as to the efficient charge transfer between GaP and TiO2 heterojunction.
Structure-property relationships in aromatic thioethers featuring aggregation-induced emission : Solid-state structures and theoretical analysis
2019
We describe in this paper a structure–property relationship study of aromatic thioethers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties. We combine a structural analysis based on geometrical consideration with an in-depth analysis of the crystalline packing supported by quantum mechanical calculations. Our results allow us to correlate the enhanced fluorescence quantum yields with the significant increase of C–H⋯π and the decrease of π⋯π interactions in the solid state – a result which supports the well-accepted AIE mechanism quantitatively.
Influence of sol counter-ions on the visible light induced photocatalytic behaviour of TiO2 nanoparticles
2014
Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles are attracting increasing interest because of their superior photocatalytic and antibacterial properties. Here, aqueous titanium oxy-hydroxide sols were made, using a green synthesis method, from the controlled hydrolysis/peptisation of titanium isopropoxide. Three different mineral acids were used to peptise the sol (HNO3, HBr and HCl), and provide counter-ions. The influence of nitrate or halide sol counter-ions on size distributions of the starting sols were measured via photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS). Semi-quantitative phase composition analysis (QPA), on the gels thermally treated at 450 and 600 degrees C, was carried out via Rietveld refine…
Characterization and photoactivity of coupled ZnO-ZnWO4 catalysts prepared by a sol-gel method
2014
Abstract ZnO–ZnWO4 nanocomposites were synthesized by a novel sol–gel method and characterized through X-ray diffraction, BET specific surface area analysis, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated using the degradation of 4-nitrophenol under UV light as probe reaction. The ZnO/ZnWO4 molar ratio was varied in order to study its influence on the photoefficiency of the mixed samples. The ZnO–ZnWO4 nanocomposites showed higher photoactivity than ZnO and ZnWO4. The high efficiency of the mixed samples was explained by the coupling and the intimate contact of two different…
Effects of weathering on the performance of self-cleaning photocatalytic paints
2019
Abstract The use of photocatalytic products for the surface coating of buildings is spreading more and more, because of the reduction of atmospheric pollutants and the colour maintenance of the paints over time with reduction of the maintenance costs and the improvement of the aesthetic appearance. The study reports the evaluation of the effects of the atmospheric conditions on three commercial photocatalytic paints containing TiO2. In particular tests were carried out by using samples subjected to accelerated aging inside a climate chamber and naturally aged by exposure for two years to the external environment of the city of Palermo (representative of a coastal environment of the Mediterr…