Search results for "nanoparticle"

Biocompatible Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-halloysite Nanotubes for Thermoresponsive Curcumin Release

2015

The grafting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) onto the halloysite external surface is proposed in order to obtain a novel thermoresponsive drug carrier for curcumin delivery. The new nanomaterial is characterized by means of FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and SEM investigations. A high density of polymer chain was achieved at the nanoparticle surface. The PNIPAAM dehydration phenomenon was observed in water above 32 °C that is nearly coincident with the lower critical solution temperature for the polymer. The colloidal stability as well as the wettability of the obtained nanomaterial may be triggered by temperature stimuli. In vitro tests simulating the gastro-intes…

Synthesis and characterization of bisulfonated poly(vinyl alcohol)/graphene oxide composite membranes with improved proton exchange capabilities

2020

Abstract Composite membranes based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and graphene oxide (GO) were prepared by solution-casting method to be used as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in fuel cell (FC) applications. Bisulfonation was employed as a strategy to enhance the proton conductivity of these membranes. First, a direct sulfonation of the polymer matrix was accomplished by intra-sulfonation of the polymer matrix with propane sultone, followed by the inter-sulfonation of the polymer chains using sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) as a crosslinking agent. Furthermore, the addition of graphene oxide (GO) as inorganic filler was also evaluated to enhance the proton-conducting of the composite membranes. Th…

Soluble Complexes of Cobalt Oxide Fragments Bring the Unique CO2 Photoreduction Activity of a Bulk Material into the Flexible Domain of Molecular Sci…

2021

The deposition of metal oxides is essential to the fabrication of numerous multicomponent solid-state devices and catalysts. However, the reproducible formation of homogeneous metal oxide films or of nanoparticle dispersions at solid interfaces remains an ongoing challenge. Here we report that molecular hexaniobate cluster anion complexes of structurally and electronically distinct fragments of cubic-spinel and monoclinic Co3O4 can serve as tractable yet well-defined functional analogues of bulk cobalt oxide. Notably, the energies of the highest-occupied and lowest-unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO and LUMO) of the molecular complexes, 1, closely match the valence- and conduction-band (VB…

Bio-inspired surface modification of iron oxide nanoparticles for active stabilization in hydrogels

2020

Biological materials employ a variety of dynamic interactions in sophisticated composite structures to function adaptively on different time and length scales. Inspired by such designs we develop a novel surface modification approach to promote dynamic interactions between nanoparticles and polymer chains in physical and double network hydrogels. Physical hydrogels are formed via reversible complexation of borate ions with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chemical crosslinks are introduced by electron beam irradiation. Dopamine is used for surface modification of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs) in two different ways: the direct treatment results in anchoring via catechol groups, where…

Dynamics of macromolecules grafted in spherical brushes under good solvent conditions

2013

Spherical polymer brushes have a structure intermediate between star polymers and polymer brushes on flat substrates, and are important building blocks of polymer nanoparticles. Molecular dynamics simulations are presented for isolated spherical polymer brushes under good solvent conditions, varying the grafting density as well as the chain length, using a coarse-grained bead-spring model of flexible chains. We complement previous work on the static properties of the same model by analyzing the chain dynamics, studying the motions of monomers in relation to their position along the grafted chains, and extract suitable relaxation times. A qualitative discussion in terms of the Rouse model is…

Sorting of Enhanced Reference Raman Spectra of a Single Amino Acid Molecule

2014

In this contribution, we report the identification of the principal reference Raman spectra of a single cystein molecule. To that purpose, we design an active Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) template based on surfactant-less Chebyshev nanoparticles operating in a microfluidic platform. A principal component analysis is obtained from fluctuating spectra to sort the reference spectra of cystein. The assignment of Raman bands brings new insight into the conformation of an amino acid adsorbed onto gold nanoparticle.

Solids Go Bio: Inorganic Nanoparticles as Enzyme Mimics

2016

A longstanding goal of biomimetic chemistry is the design and synthesis of functional enzyme mimics. The past three decades have seen a wide variety of materials, including metal complexes, polymers and other biomolecules, that mimic the structures and functions of naturally occurring enzymes. Among these, inorganic nanoparticles offer huge potential, because they are more stable than their natural counterparts, while having large surface areas and sizes comparable to those of natural enzymes. Therefore, a considerable number of “artificial enzymes” derived from inorganic nanomaterials have been reported. This microreview highlights the recent progress in the field of enzymatically active i…

Corrigendum to “Biomolecule-corona formation confers resistance of bacteria to nanoparticle-induced killing: Implications for the design of improved …

2020

Blood Proteins and Their Interactions with Nanoparticles Investigated Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations

2018

Blood proteins play a fundamental role in determining the response of the organism to the injection of drugs or, more in general, of therapeutic preparations in the blood stream. Some of these proteins are responsible for mediating immune response and coagulation. Nanoparticles, which are being intensely investigated as possible drug nanocarriers, heavily interact with blood proteins and their ultimate fate is determined by these interactions. Here we report the results of molecular dynamics simulations of several blood proteins aimed to determining their possible behavior at the nanoparticle surface. On one hand we investigated the behavior of fibrinogen, a glycoprotein, which polymerizes …

ChemInform Abstract: Multifaceted Palladium Catalysts Towards the Tandem Diboration-Arylation Reactions of Alkenes.

2009

Novel Pd(2) (6+) compounds have been synthesized in high yield. These compounds and their Pd(2) (4+) counterparts as synthetic precursors mediate the diboration of vinylarenes and aliphatic 1-alkenes, and under mild and basic reaction conditions they produce a variety of 1,2-diboronate esters with excellent conversions and chemoselectivities. The presence of bis(catecholato)diboron (B(2)cat(2)) favours the reduction of Pd(III) to Pd(II), while the catalytic precursor of Pd(II) is transformed into Pd(0)-nanoparticles. An "in situ" catalytic tandem reaction has been designed to transform the diboronate intermediates into the monoarylated product, which after oxidative workup, provides the car…