Search results for "NANOMATERIALS"

Preface

2012

Phosphorylation triggered growth of metal phosphate on halloysite and sepiolite nanoparticles: preparation, entrapment in chitosan hydrogels and appl…

2020

The rational design of porous, biomass-derived eco-friendly adsorbents instead of costly synthetic, petroleum-based resins stands as a promising approach to resolving the thorny issue of sewage treatment (for example, by supplying safe water for drinking and irrigation). Herein we explore a straightforward transformation of abundant clay and polysaccharides into highly-reactive water-cleaning adsorbents. Surface-functionalization of sepiolite and halloysite by phosphoryl chloride triggered metal dissolution from the framework (inside of the lumen for halloysite and on the external surface for sepiolite) and the concomitant growth of well-truncated crystalline metal phosphates. These unprece…

Self-Cleaning ZnO Nanosheets for Piezoelectric Sensors

2022

The design of wearable sensors coupling versatile analytical detection to self-cleaning is a highly desired combination, tackling the need of smart devices in response to the recent virus pandemics. To this aim, this work shows ZnO nanostructures obtained by a mild wet-chemistry approach onto ITO/PET flexible supports, resulting in wearable piezoelectric sensors exhibiting photocatalytic activity. ITO surfaces are treated with 0.5 mM KMnO4 aqueous solution (20 minutes, 90°C); ZnO growth is subsequently carried out by a previously shown wet-chemistry method [1]. SEM analysis shows the presence of a good surface coverage of ZnO nanosheets (NSs) (about 1.5 NSs/μm2) in the case of treated ITO, …

Magnetic hybrid nanomaterials for the photodegradation of microcontaminats in aqueous environment

2018

Bio-based substances (BBS) isolated from urban biowaste have been employed to prepare hybrid magnetic nanomaterials with iron oxides. Such materials have been tested, in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, for the light induced photodegradation of four microcontaminants (MCs) in aqueous environment: Carbamazepine (C, an anticonvulsant and analgesic drug), Flumequine (F, an antibiotic), Ibuprofen (I, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), and Sulfamethoxazole (S, an antibiotic). Preliminary photodegradation experiments were carried out at lab-scale in a solar simulator, whereas optimized experiments were carried out in a pilot plant under natural solar radiation. The MCs complete abatement …

Fluorescence of carbon dots embedded in a SiO2 host matrix

2014

Carbon dots (CD) are an emerging class of recently discovered carbonaceous nanomaterials, which have attracted a large interest because of their bright and characteristically “tunable” fluorescence, and their potential for suggestive applications. Despite quite an intense research, the fundamental properties of these systems are poorly understood and still lively debated. Here we report on a series of experiments on N-doped CDs prepared by thermal decomposition of citric acid and urea. We studied these CDs by steady-state and nanosecond time-resolved photoluminescence, optical absorption, infrared absorption and atomic force microscopy. CDs (3 nanometers-sized) are found to emit two co-exis…

Physical and antibacterial properties of PLA electrospun mats loaded with carvacrol and nisin

2022

Functional, biopolymeric electrospun structures for the controlled release of antimicrobial agents are gaining in-creasing interest in food packaging applications. In this study, the physical and antibacterial performances of ternary systems composed of polylactic acid (PLA) electrospun mats loaded with 20 wt% of different relative amounts of carvacrol (CRV) and a commercial nisin formulation (Nis) were assessed. Scanning electron micrographs displayed micro-scaled fibers with different diameter size distributions depending on the relative concentrations of the additives. The PLA/CRV/Nis membranes??? wettability was affected by the relative amount of CRV and Nis loaded, switching from hydro…

Microscopic evidence of the primary astrocytes' morphological differentiation and migration inside porous Poly-L-lactic acid 3D‑scaffolds

2019

Tissue engineering is an emerging multidisciplinary field that aims at reproducing in vitro and/or in vivo tissues with morphological and functional features similar to the biological tissue of the human body [1]. In the attempt to construct suitable tissue models, a critical step is the setting of 3D scaffolds that mimic the supportive structures of a natural extracellular matrix microenvironment into which cells are normally embedded. In this context, the generation of 3D cultures of brain cells is of particular interest. For instance, the poly L‐lactic acid (PLLA) polymer is wildly used because of its biocompatible and biodegradable potential; the PLLA scaffold topography simulates the n…

A Biocatalytic Nanomaterial for the Label-Free Detection of Virus-Like Particles

2017

International audience; The design of nanomaterials that are capable of specific and sensitive biomolecular recognition is an on-going challenge in the chemical and biochemical sciences. A number of sophisticated artificial systems have been designed to specifically recognize a variety of targets. However, methods based on natural biomolecular detection systems using antibodies are often superior. Besides greater affinity and selectivity, antibodies can be easily coupled to enzymatic systems that act as signal amplifiers, thus permitting impressively low detection limits. The possibility to translate this concept to artificial recognition systems remains limited due to design incompatibilit…

Preliminary studies on nanocomposite based on high quality Silicon Carbide nanofibers

2012

Nanocomposites are nowadays the most promising new materials due to their unique properties (such as high mechanical strength, chemical and thermal resistance). The nanocomposite matrix is blended with a nanostructured filler. In this study, Silicon Carbide nanofibers (NFSiC) and their bundles were tested as a reinforcement of two epoxy resins: EPIKOTE 828 and EL 20. PAP-4 (33 phr) and P-900 (40 phr) were used as hardeners in the two cases, respectively. Several samples were prepared in the range between 0.1 and 5 % wt for both types of resins and fillers (NFSiC and NFSiC bundles). Mechanical and electrical properties were tested. The fillers were obtained using a new simple, fast, low-cost…

Self-limiting and complete oxidation of silicon nanostructures produced by laser ablation in water

2016

Oxidized Silicon nanomaterials produced by 1064 nm pulsed laser ablation in deionized water are investigated. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy allows to characterize the structural and chemical properties at a sub-nanometric scale. This analysis clarifies that laser ablation induces both self-limiting and complete oxidation processes which produce polycrystalline Si surrounded by a layer of SiO2 and amorphous fully oxidized SiO2, respectively. These nanostructures exhibit a composite luminescence spectrum which is investigated by time-resolved spectroscopy with a tunable laser excitation. The origin of the observed luminescen…