Search results for "nanoparticle"
showing 10 items of 2198 documents
Spray freeze drying as an alternative technique for lyophilization of polymeric and lipid-based nanoparticles.
2016
The use of nanoparticles for drug delivery is still restricted by their limited stability when stored in an aqueous medium. Freeze drying is the standard method for long-term storage of colloidal nanoparticles; however the method needs to be elaborated for each formulation. Spray freeze drying (SFD) is proposed here as a promising alternative for lyophilizing colloidal nanoparticles. Different types of polymeric and lipid nanoparticles were prepared and characterized. Afterwards, samples were spray freeze dried by spraying into a column of cold air with a constant concentration of different cryoprotectants, and the frozen spherules were collected for further freeze drying. Similar samples w…
Halloysite nanotubes/pluronic nanocomposites for waterlogged archeological wood: thermal stability and X-ray microtomography
2020
Filling a polymer with halloysite nanotubes is considered a promising strategy to generate nanocomposites with tailored physicochemical properties. We have focused our attention on pluronic block copolymer/halloysite nanocomposites prepared by melt blending. The effect of composition on thermal stability and polymer crystallinity was investigated by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. Electron microscopy was used to monitor the nanoparticle distribution in the polymeric matrix. The pluronic thermal stability is reduced by the clay nanoparticles. Concerning the polymer crystallinity, it is slightly decreased even if the melting temperature is lowered by halloysite. Furthe…
Mucus and Cell-Penetrating Nanoparticles Embedded in Nano-into-Micro Formulations for Pulmonary Delivery of Ivacaftor in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis
2017
Here, mucus-penetrating nanoparticles (NPs) for pulmonary administration of ivacaftor in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) were produced with the dual aim of enhancing ivacaftor delivery to the airway epithelial cells, by rapid diffusion through the mucus barrier, and at the same time, promoting ivacaftor lung cellular uptake. Pegylated and Tat-decorated fluorescent nanoparticles (FNPs) were produced by nanoprecipitation, starting from two synthetic copolymers, and showed nanometric sizes (∼70 nm), a slightly negative ζ potential, and high cytocompatibility toward human bronchial epithelium cells. After having showed the significant presence of poly(ethylene glycol) chains and Tat protein …
DFT calculations on subnanometric metal catalysts: a short review on new supported materials
2018
Metal clusters have been used in catalysis for a long time, even in industrial production protocols, and a large number of theoretical and experimental studies aimed at characterizing their structure and reactivity, either when supported or not, are already present in the literature. Nevertheless, in the last years the advances made in the control of the synthesis and stabilization of subnanometric clusters promoted a renewed interest in the field. The shape and size of sub-nanometer clusters are crucial in determining their catalytic activity and selectivity. Moreover, if supported, subnanometric clusters could be highly influenced by the interactions with the support that could affect geo…
Hot-Carrier Generation in Plasmonic Nanoparticles: The Importance of Atomic Structure
2020
Metal nanoparticles are attractive for plasmon-enhanced generation of hot carriers, which may be harnessed in photochemical reactions. In this work, we analyze the coherent femtosecond dynamics of photon absorption, plasmon formation, and subsequent hot-carrier generation through plasmon dephasing using first-principles simulations. We predict the energetic and spatial hot-carrier distributions in small metal nanoparticles and show that the distribution of hot electrons is very sensitive to the local structure. Our results show that surface sites exhibit enhanced hot-electron generation in comparison to the bulk of the nanoparticle. While the details of the distribution depend on particle s…
Plasmon damping depends on the chemical nature of the nanoparticle interface
2019
Damping of gold nanorod plasmons by surface-adsorbed molecules is best explained by scattering off adsorbate-induced dipoles.
Micro- and nano-diamond particles in carbon spherules found in soil samples
2008
Carbonaceous spherules of millimeter size diameter and found in the upper soils throughout Europe are investigated by TEM, including SAED, HRTEM and EELS, and Raman spectroscopy. The spherules consist primarily of carbon and have an open cell-like internal structure. Most of the carbon appears in an amorphous state, but different morphologies of nano- and microdiamond particles have also been discovered including flake shapes. The latter observation, together with the original findings of some of these spherules in crater-like structures in the landscape and including severely deformed rocks with some spherules being embedded in the fused crust of excavated rocks, points towards unique cond…
The influence of Al doping on the photocatalytic activity of nanostructured ZnO: The role of adsorbed water
2018
Abstract Al doped ZnO nanoparticles (labeled as x% A-ZnO, x = 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5) were synthesized by a simple sol-gel method, characterized and tested as photocatalysts for the degradation of a model compound under UV-light irradiation. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoelectrochemical analysis have been performed to evidence their optical and electronic behavior. The structural features of the powders were highlighted by means of specific surface area (SSA) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Al doping results in enhanced photocatalytic activity of the modified powders with respect to pure ZnO. In particular, the h…
Preparation of Sm-loaded brookite TiO2 photocatalysts
2011
Abstract Pure and Sm-loaded brookite nanoparticles and thin films were prepared using TiCl4 as precursor of TiO2. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), specific surface area (SSA) determination, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The photocatalytic activity of the powders was investigated by employing the photodegradation of 4-nitrophenol in a liquid–solid system whilst the photoreactivity of the films was tested by evaluating the rate of degradation of 2-propanol in a gas–solid system. Loading with Sm resulted in a significant improvement of the photoreactivity of brookite and the beneficial effect was attributed to an incre…
Effects of Pressure, Temperature, and Particles Size on O2 Diffusion Dynamics in Silica Nanoparticles
2013
The O2 diffusion process in silica nanoparticles is experimentally studied in samples of average radius of primary particles ranging from 3.5 to 20 nm and specific surface ranging from 50 to 380 (m2/g). The investigation is done in the temperature range from 98 to 177 °C at O2 pressure ranging from 0.2 to 66 bar by measuring the interstitial O2 concentration by Raman and photoluminescence techniques. The kinetics of diffusion can be described by the Fick’s equation with an effective diffusion coefficient depending on the temperature, O2 pressure, and particles size. In particular, the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the pressure and nanoparticles size is more pronounced at lower …