Search results for "Microscope"
showing 10 items of 1412 documents
Multicavity halloysite-amphiphilic cyclodextrin hybrids for co-delivery of natural drugs into thyroid cancer cells
2015
Multicavity halloysite nanotube materials were employed as simultaneous carriers for two different natural drugs, silibinin and quercetin, at 6.1% and 2.2% drug loadings, respectively. The materials were obtained by grafting functionalized amphiphilic cyclodextrin onto the HNT external surface. The new materials were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, SEM, thermogravimetry, turbidimetry, dynamic light scattering and ζ-potential techniques. The interaction of the two molecules with the carrier was studied by HPLC measurements and fluorescence spectroscopy, respectively. The release of the drugs from HNT-amphiphilic cyclodextrin, at two different pH values, was also investigated by means of…
Two-terminal nanoelectromechanical devices based on germanium nanowires.
2009
A two-terminal bistable device, having both ON and OFF regimes, has been demonstrated with Ge nanowires using an in situ TEM-STM technique. The function of the device is based on delicately balancing electrostatic, elastic, and adhesion forces between the nanowires and the contacts, which can be controlled by the applied voltage. The operation and failure conditions of the bistable device were investigated, i.e. the influence of nanowire diameter, the surface oxide layer on the nanowires and the current density. During ON/OFF cycles the Ge nanowires were observed to be more stable than carbon nanotubes, working at similar conditions, due to the higher mechanical stability of the nanowires. …
Achieving high effectiveQ-factors in ultra-high vacuum dynamic force microscopy
2010
The effective Q-factor of the cantilever is one of the most important figures-of-merit for a non-contact atomic force microscope (NC-AFM) operated in ultra-high vacuum (UHV). We provide a comprehensive discussion of all effects influencing the Q-factor and compare measured Q-factors to results from simulations based on the dimensions of the cantilevers. We introduce a methodology to investigate in detail how the effective Q-factor depends on the fixation technique of the cantilever. Fixation loss is identified as a most important contribution in addition to the hitherto discussed effects and we describe a strategy for avoiding fixation loss and obtaining high effective Q-factors in the forc…
Effect of cobalt doping on the mechanical properties of ZnO nanowires
2016
Abstract In this work, we investigate the influence of doping on the mechanical properties of ZnO nanowires (NWs) by comparing the mechanical properties of pure and Co-doped ZnO NWs grown in similar conditions and having the same crystallographic orientation [0001]. The mechanical characterization included three-point bending tests made with atomic force microscopy and cantilever beam bending tests performed inside scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the Young's modulus of ZnO NWs containing 5% of Co was approximately a third lower than that of the pure ZnO NWs. Bending strength values were comparable for both materials and in both cases were close to theoretical strength indica…
Mechanical properties of sol–gel derived SiO2 nanotubes
2014
The mechanical properties of thick-walled SiO2 nanotubes (NTs) prepared by a sol–gel method while using Ag nanowires (NWs) as templates were measured by using different methods. In situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) cantilever beam bending tests were carried out by using a nanomanipulator equipped with a force sensor in order to investigate plasticity and flexural response of NTs. Nanoindentation and three point bending tests of NTs were performed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) under ambient conditions. Half-suspended and three-point bending tests were processed in the framework of linear elasticity theory. Finite element method simulations were used to extract Young’s modulus values…
Plasmonic Nanosensors for the Label-Free Imaging of Dynamic Protein Patterns.
2020
We introduce a new approach to monitor the dynamics and spatial patterns of biological molecular assemblies. Our molecular imaging method relies on plasmonic gold nanoparticles as point-like detectors and requires no labeling of the molecules. We show spatial resolution of up to 5 μm and 30 ms temporal resolution, which is comparable to wide-field fluorescence microscopy, while requiring only readily available gold nanoparticles and a dark-field optical microscope. We demonstrate the method on MinDE proteins attaching to and detaching from lipid membranes of different composition for 24 h. We foresee our new imaging method as an indispensable tool in advanced molecular biology and biophysic…
Naphthalimide imidazolium-based supramolecular hydrogels as bioimaging and theranostic soft materials
2020
1,8-Naphthalimide-based imidazolium salts differing for the alkyl chain length and the nature of the anion were synthesized and characterized to obtain fluorescent probes for bioimaging applications. First, their self-assembly behavior and gelling ability were investigated in water and water/dimethyl sulfoxide binary mixtures. Only salts having longer alkyl chains were able to give supramolecular hydrogels, whose properties were investigated by using a combined approach of fluorescence, resonance light scattering, and rheology measurements. Morphological information was obtained by scanning electron microscopy. In addition, conductive properties of organic salts in solution and gel state we…
Perylenetetracarboxylic anhydride as a precursor of fluorescent carbon nanoonion rings
2015
[EN] Thermal annealing at 400 degrees C of perylenetetracarboxylic anhydride in low molecular mass PEG gives rise to the formation of well defined nanoobjects of 2.5 nm height and size distribution from 10 to 65 nm (average 40 nm) after purification of the raw mixture with silicagel chromatography. TEM reveals that the flat nanoobjects are constituted of concentric graphenic rings (0.34 nm interlayer distance). The morphology of the nanoparticles resembles onion rings of nanometric dimensions (nanoonion rings C-NOR). C-NOR particles have an excitation dependent emission with lambda(em) from 430 to 570 nm and a maximum emission quantum yield of 0.49. C-NOR particles can be internalized into …
The preparation and thermal evolution of polymeric gels with garnet stoichiometry in the CaOAl2O3SiO2 and CaOCr2O3SiO2 systems
1990
Abstract The synthesis of gels with garnet stoichiometry in the CaOAl 2 O 3 SiO 2 and CaOCr 2 O 3 SiO 2 systems and their evolution in thermal processing have been studied. Dried gels with the stoichiometry 3CaO.Al 2 O 3 .3SiO 2 show a homogeneous aspect without detectable crystalline phase. The thermal evolution of these gels indicates no formation of grossularite at temperatures up to 1000°C after 12 h. In the uvarovite garnet samples, 3CaO.Cr 2 O 3 .3SiO 2 , a small amount of crystalline phase was detected in the dried gels. The homogeneity of the gels was checked by scanning electron microscropy. The infrared study of these polymeric gels confirmed the presence of SiOMe (MeCr 3+ …
Microwave-induced electromigration in multicomponent metallic alloys
2010
The crystallization of amorphous FeCoCuZrAlSiB alloy ribbons during microwave heating was investigated in situ using time-resolved X-ray powder diffraction. The formation of the nanocrystalline α-(Fe,Co)(SiAl) phase during the primary crystallization stage is followed by the crystallization of the residual glassy matrix. Scanning electron microscopy analysis after microwave exposure reveals the formation of nanosized hillocks evenly distributed over the ribbon surfaces. Local chemical composition analysis by energy-dispersive spectroscopy shows that the surface clusters are enriched in Cu and Al. The occurrence of this typical electromigration effect imposes a strong restriction on the dura…