Search results for "colloid"

Uptake and cytotoxicity of citrate-coated gold nanospheres : comparative studies on human endothelial and epithelial cells

2012

Abstract Background The use of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for diagnostic applications and for drug and gene-delivery is currently under intensive investigation. For such applications, biocompatibility and the absence of cytotoxicity of AuNPs is essential. Although generally considered as highly biocompatible, previous in vitro studies have shown that cytotoxicity of AuNPs in certain human epithelial cells was observed. In particular, the degree of purification of AuNPs (presence of sodium citrate residues on the particles) was shown to affect the proliferation and induce cytotoxicity in these cells. To expand these studies, we have examined if the effects are related to nanoparticle size (1…

Polyhydroxyethylaspartamide-based micelles for ocular drug delivery

2009

In this paper three copolymers of polyhydroxyethylaspartamide (PHEA), bearing in the side chains polyethylene glycol (PEG) and/or hexadecylamine (C(16)) (PHEA-PEG, PHEA-PEG-C(16) and PHEA-C(16) respectively) have been studied as potential colloidal drug carriers for ocular drug delivery. The physical characterization of all three PHEA derivatives, using the Langmuir trough (LT) and micellar affinity capillary electrophoresis (MACE) techniques allowed to assume that whereas alone PHEA backbone is an inert polymer with respect to the interactions with lipid membranes and drug complexation, when PHEA chains are grafted with long alkyl chains like C(16) or in combination C(16) chains and hydrop…

Xyloglucan-based hydrogel films for wound dressing: Structure-property relationships

2017

Thin xyloglucan-based hydrogel films have been synthetized and characterized in the prospect of producing wound dressings. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and glycerol (Gro) were added to have an optimal combination of softness, conformability and resilience. Physical hydrogels have been transformed into permanent covalent hydrogels by reaction with glutaraldehyde (GA). Network structure-process-property relationships are discussed on the account of the results of several complementary characterizations: FTIR, rheology, thermal analysis, morphological analysis, moisture retention and swelling measurements. Selected formulations were also subjected to preliminary in vitro cytotoxicity tests. The phy…

Organic-inorganic nanocomposites prepared by reactive suspension method: investigation on filler/matrix interactions and their effect on the nanopart…

2017

Epoxy resin/TiO2 nanocomposites prepared by both reactive suspension method, based on in situ synthesis, and conventional mechanical mixing are analysed by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and transmission electron microscopy in order to have a deeper insight into the nature of interactions at the polymer/particle interface and their effect on the nanoparticles dispersion. Specifically, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments showed that the nanoparticles, synthesized by reactive suspension method, can efficiently link the matrix by hydrogen bonds forming a hybrid organic-inorganic 3D network. Such evidences strongly supports our previously reported theory, in which the nan…

Erratum: “Evaporation-induced assembly of colloidal crystals” [J. Chem. Phys. 149, 094901 (2018)]

2018

Nanoemulsions for synthesis of biomedical nanocarriers

2021

Nanoemulsions are kinetically stabilized emulsions with droplet sizes in the nanometer scale. These nanodroplets are able to confine spaces in which reactions of polymerization or precipitation can take place, leading to the formation of particles and capsules that can act as nanocarriers for biomedical applications. This review discusses the different possibilities of using nanoemulsions for preparing biomedical nanocarriers. According to the chemical nature, nanocarriers prepared in nanoemulsions are classified in polymeric, inorganic, or hybrid. The main synthetic strategies for each type are revised, including miniemulsion polymerization, nanoemulsion-solvent evaporation, spontaneous em…

In Silico Design Enables the Rapid Production of Surface-Active Colloidal Amphiphiles

2020

A new technology platform built on the integration of theory and experiments to enable the design of Janus colloids with precision control of surface anisotropy and amphiphilicity could lead to a disruptive transformation in the next generation of surfactants, photonic or phononic materials, and coatings. Here, we exploit molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to guide the rational design of amphiphilic polymer Janus colloids by Flash NanoPrecipitation (FNP), a method capable of the production of colloids with complex structure without the compromise of reduced scalability. Aided by in silico design, we show in experiments that amphiphilic Janus colloids can be produced using a unique blend of…

Preparation of conductive PDDA/(PEDOT:PSS) multilayer thin film: influence of polyelectrolyte solution composition.

2014

Abstract Self-assembled multilayer films made of PEDOT:PSS poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) and PDDA poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) were prepared using layer-by-layer method. In order to modify the growth regime of the multilayer, to fabricate an electrical conductive film and to control its thickness, the effects of pH, type of electrolyte, ionic strength and polyelectrolyte concentration were investigated. Optical reflectometry measurements show that the pH of the solutions has no effect on the film growth while the adsorbed amount increases more rapidly when BaCl2 is used instead of NaCl as electrolyte. An increase in the ionic strength (with NaCl) induces…

On-Surface Synthesis of Antiaromatic and Open-Shell Indeno[2,1- b ]fluorene Polymers and Their Lateral Fusion into Porous Ribbons

2019

Polycyclic hydrocarbons have received great attention due to their potential role in organic electronics and, for open-shell systems with unpaired electron densities, in spintronics and da-ta storage. However, the intrinsic instability of polyradical hydrocarbons severely limits de-tailed investigations of their electronic structure. Here, we report the on-surface synthesis of conjugated polymers consisting of indeno[2,1-b]fluorene units, which are antiaromatic and open-shell biradicaloids. The observed reaction products, which also include a non-benzenoid porous ribbon arising from lateral fusion of unprotected indeno[2,1-b]fluorene chains, have been characterized via low temperature scann…

Intregrating metallic wiring with three-dimensional polystyrene colloidal crystals using electron-beam lithography and three-dimensional laser lithog…

2017

We demonstrate a method to fabricate narrow, down to a few micron wide metallic leads on top of a three-dimensional colloidal crystal self-assembled from polystyrene (PS) nanospheres of diameter 260 nm, using electron-beam lithography. This fabrication is not straightforward due to the fact that PS nanospheres cannot usually survive the harsh chemical treatments required in the development and lift-off steps of electron-beam lithography. We solve this problem by increasing the chemical resistance of the PS nanospheres using an additional electron-beam irradiation step, which allows the spheres to retain their shape and their self-assembled structure, even after baking to a temperature of 16…