Fabrication and photoactivity of ionic liquid–TiO₂ structures for efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in aqueous phase

• Anna Gołąbiewska,
• Marta Paszkiewicz-Gawron,
• Aleksandra Sadzińska,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewelina Grabowska,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Justyna Łuczak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 580–590, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.54

• by adding BQ, which is capable of trapping O2• [57]. It was observed that the addition of BQ to both samples (TiO2_O(1:3) and TiO2_O(1:3)) caused inhibition of phenol degradation, as presented in Table 4. The degradation rate was largely suppressed to 22 and 11% for the TiO2_T(1:3) and TiO2_O(1:3

• ) photocatalysts, respectively. It is deduced that the oxidation inhibition of phenol is due to the suppression of the superoxide anion formation by the BQ addition. Addition of AO (holes scavenger) resulted in a slight inhibition of the photodegradation process under visible-light irradiation for both samples

Green synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots from spices for in vitro imaging and tumour cell growth inhibition

• Nagamalai Vasimalai,
• Vânia Vilas-Boas,
• Juan Gallo,
• María de Fátima Cerqueira,
• Mario Menéndez-Miranda,
• José Manuel Costa-Fernández,
• Lorena Diéguez,
• Begoña Espiña and
• María Teresa Fernández-Argüelles

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 530–544, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.51

• show any significant toxicity in either cancerous or non-cancerous cells, implying that the tumour cell growth inhibition properties observed in the spice-derived C-dots can be attributed to the starting material employed for their fabrication. These results evidence that functional groups in the

• significant effect on cell viability neither in LN-229 nor in HK-2 cells (Figure 8) suggests that the inhibition effect on the cell growth of LN-229 cells can be attributed to the nature of the spice-based C-dots, indeed depending on the starting material employed for the C-dots synthesis. Considering the

• reduction in cell viability was observed for LN-229 cells after 24 h of exposure to increasing concentrations of each C-dot type. In fact, results obtained showed that 2 mg/mL of cinnamon, red chilli, turmeric and black pepper C-dots yielded cancer cell growth inhibition efficiencies of 35, 50, 50 and 75

Influence of the preparation method on the photocatalytic activity of Nd-modified TiO₂

• Patrycja Parnicka,
• Paweł Mazierski,
• Tomasz Grzyb,
• Wojciech Lisowski,
• Ewa Kowalska,
• Bunsho Ohtani,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska and
• Joanna Nadolna

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 447–459, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.43

• rate reaching 1.59 μmol·dm−1·min−1. In the case of Nd-modified samples, the photocatalysts prepared via the HT method also showed higher activity (the degradation rate was equal to 1.22 μmol·dm−1·min−1). It should be pointed out that samples prepared by the HT process revealed the highest inhibition of

BN/Ag hybrid nanomaterials with petal-like surfaces as catalysts and antibacterial agents

• Konstantin L. Firestein,
• Denis V. Leybo,
• Alexander E. Steinman,
• Andrey M. Kovalskii,
• Andrei T. Matveev,
• Anton M. Manakhov,
• Irina V. Sukhorukova,
• Pavel V. Slukin,
• Nadezda K. Fursova,
• Sergey G. Ignatov,
• Dmitri V. Golberg and
• Dmitry V. Shtansky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 250–261, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.27

• whole duration of testing (14 days), the maximum concentration of Ag+ ions was 90 ppb (CVD BN/Ag HNMs) and 110 ppb (UV BN/Ag HNMs). Antibacterial activity The antibacterial activity of BN/Ag HNMs obtained via CVD was first studied using the inhibition zone method. The diameter of all discs with tested

• samples was 11 mm. The pristine BN sample did not show any noticeable effect on the inhibition of E. coli colony growth (Figure 9a). In contrast, Ag ions leaching out of the samples demonstrated a significant inhibition effect on the growth of E. coli K-261 bacteria around BN/Ag HNMs (Figure 9b and 9c

• ). The width of inhibition zone increased from 1.5 mm (BN) to 6 mm (UV BN/Ag HNMs) and 7–8 mm (CVD BN/Ag HNMs). Note that in both Ag-containing samples additional zones, 1–1.5 mm wide, with a reduced cell concentration were observed just behind the inhibition zones (shown by arrows). This effect can be

Review on optofluidic microreactors for artificial photosynthesis

• Xiaowen Huang,
• Jianchun Wang,
• Tenghao Li,
• Jianmei Wang,
• Min Xu,
• Weixing Yu,
• Abdel El Abed and
• Xuming Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 30–41, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.5

• great advantage of avoiding product inhibition and cross-reaction [42]. Furthermore, cascaded reactions can be divided into different areas where each region can be set with their own optimal reaction conditions such as temperature, pH and concentration. The various photocatalytic nanomaterials [62] can

CdSe nanorod/TiO₂ nanoparticle heterojunctions with enhanced solar- and visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Fakher Laatar,
• Hatem Moussa,
• Halima Alem,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Ghouti Medjahdi,
• Hatem Ezzaouia and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2741–2752, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.273

• exhibits the highest activity at pH values varying from 5 to 8 (k values are varying from 0.017 to 0.031 min−1). At pH 3, the photodegradation kinetic is reduced (k = 0.011 min-1) but the highest inhibition was observed in basic media (k = 0.009 and 0.006 min−1 at pH 9 and 11, respectively). The point of

Interface conditions of roughness-induced superoleophilic and superoleophobic surfaces immersed in hexadecane and ethylene glycol

• Yifan Li,
• Yunlu Pan and
• Xuezeng Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2504–2514, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.250

• using a surface forces apparatus (SFA). They reported an inhibition of slip length with the increase of root mean squared (RMS) roughness, which suggests that a smoother surface results in a larger slip length. The Craig group [18] utilized atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure the slip length on

Involvement of two uptake mechanisms of gold and iron oxide nanoparticles in a co-exposure scenario using mouse macrophages

• Dimitri Vanhecke,
• Dagmar A. Kuhn,
• Dorleta Jimenez de Aberasturi,
• Sandor Balog,
• Ana Milosevic,
• Dominic Urban,
• Diana Peckys,
• Niels de Jonge,
• Wolfgang J. Parak,
• Alke Petri-Fink and
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2396–2409, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.239

• inhibitor MDC. Inhibition of this pathway was also reported for the Fe-binding protein transferrin, whereas the uptake of non-biological (nano)particles such as polystyrene beads was not blocked [35]. However, the pathway was not exclusively clathrin-mediated because evidence of uptake is observed

• intracellularly after MDC treatment, suggesting that at least one additional uptake mechanism is active. Co-exposure of FeOxNPs and AuNPs in the presence of the clathrin-mediated endocytosis inhibitor MDC mediated a recovery from the uptake inhibition, again suggesting that more than one pathway is involved

• . Therefore, the co-exposure of NPs to a culture of macrophages with an inhibited clathrin-mediated endocytosis pathway may restore the uptake until it is indiscernible from a not-inhibited, healthy culture. Without inhibition, the particles are internalized faster in co-exposure experiments than in each

Evaluating the toxicity of TiO₂-based nanoparticles to Chinese hamster ovary cells and Escherichia coli: a complementary experimental and computational approach

• Alicja Mikolajczyk,
• Natalia Sizochenko,
• Ewa Mulkiewicz,
• Anna Malankowska,
• Michal Nischk,
• Przemyslaw Jurczak,
• Seishiro Hirano,
• Grzegorz Nowaczyk,
• Adriana Zaleska-Medynska,
• Jerzy Leszczynski,
• Agnieszka Gajewicz and
• Tomasz Puzyn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2171–2180, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.216

• Toxicity evaluation Three types of TiO2-based NPs were synthetized: (1) monometallic (Au, Pd) clusters, (2) core–shell particles and (3) alloy bimetallic clusters (Au/Pd). The cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of TiO2 modified with palladium and/or gold NPs is presented in Table 1. Inhibition of

• bacterial growth was not observed up to the highest tested concentration of 500 µg/L. In the agar diffusion method, a slight inhibition of bacterial growth was noted for nanomaterials: 0.25Au, 1.25Au, 0.1Pd_0.5Au, 0.1Pd_1.25Au, 0.5Pd_0.5Au. At the same time, mammalian cells were more sensitive to Au/Pd-TiO2

• , Pd-TiO2 and bimetallic Au/Pd-TiO2 was greater than the one observed for pure TiO2. At the same time, when MIC was determined, inhibition of bacterial growth was not observed for the investigated nanomaterials, up to the highest tested concentration. When comparing the metal content, the nanoparticles

Bi-layer sandwich film for antibacterial catheters

• Gerhard Franz,
• Florian Schamberger,
• Hamideh Heidari Zare,
• Sara Felicitas Bröskamp and
• Dieter Jocham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1982–2001, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.199

• traces are inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), cyclic voltammetry, and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The former two methods have been extensively used and are described in [19][40][41]. The biological methods are the determination of the zone of inhibition around a

Optical techniques for cervical neoplasia detection

• Tatiana Novikova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1844–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.186

• ). It is known that progression of CIN from mild dysplasia to invasive cancer is accompanied by the increase in level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The overexpression of EGFR has been correlated to uncontrolled cell growth and inhibition of cell apoptosis. Hence, EGFR can be used as a

A nanocomplex of C₆₀ fullerene with cisplatin: design, characterization and toxicity

• Svitlana Prylutska,
• Svitlana Politenkova,
• Kateryna Afanasieva,
• Volodymyr Korolovych,
• Kateryna Bogutska,
• Andriy Sivolob,
• Larysa Skivka,
• Maxim Evstigneev,
• Viktor Kostjukov,
• Yuriy Prylutskyy and
• Uwe Ritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1494–1501, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.149

• action and binds covalently to DNA. In tumor cells Cis induces the selective inhibition of DNA synthesis and replication [2]. However, the action of Cis is accompanied by side effects that limit the use of Cis in anticancer chemotherapy. Сіs-induced nephro-, hepato- and cardiotoxicity, as well as

Cationic PEGylated polycaprolactone nanoparticles carrying post-operation docetaxel for glioma treatment

• Cem Varan and
• Erem Bilensoy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1446–1456, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.144

• effective on growth inhibition of breast and prostate cancer cells when compared to free docetaxel [23]. Core–shell nanoparticles are also used as non-viral vectors for the treatment of glioma. Zamora et al. prepared photochemical internalization mediated polyamine core–shell nanoparticles for tumor

• sustained release of the model drug epidoxorubicin as carriers of pEGFP DNA complexes. The results demonstrated that co-delivery of drug and gene could be performed and strong inhibition effects on glioblastoma can be achieved with their system [25]. Additionally, magnetic core–shell nanoparticles have been

• an intracranial U87 glioma model. They demonstrated that active targeted and cationic core–shell nanoparticles could be effective in inhibition of tumor proliferation with higher accumulation in tumor area when they are administered intravenously [67]. Different studies also showed that nanoparticles

Micro- and nano-surface structures based on vapor-deposited polymers

• Hsien-Yeh Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1366–1374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.138

• proliferation (FGF-2) and osteogenic differentiation (BMP-2) for adipose-derived stem cells [76]. Selective deposition The aforementioned methods rely on physical means to obtain spatially controlled surface modifications and patterned structures. A simpler approach is the selective inhibition of the vapor

• deposition/polymerization process on substrates, i.e., the polymer coatings are either deposited or not on substrates because of the chemistry below the substrate surface. The mechanism of the polymer deposition selectivity is not conclusive. The inhibition of polymer deposition is believed to occur because

Carbon nanomaterials sensitize prostate cancer cells to docetaxel and mitomycin C via induction of apoptosis and inhibition of proliferation

• Kati Erdmann,
• Jessica Ringel,
• Silke Hampel,
• Manfred P. Wirth and
• Susanne Fuessel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1307–1317, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.132

• viability of PCa cells to 94% and 68%, respectively, whereas a combined treatment with CNFs led to less than 30% remaining viable cells. Up to 17- and 7-fold higher DTX and MMC concentrations were needed in order to evoke a similar inhibition of viability as mediated by the combinatory treatments. In

• contrast, the dose of platinum-based chemotherapeutics could only be reduced by up to 3-fold by combination with carbon nanomaterials. Furthermore, combinatory treatments with CNFs led mostly to an additive inhibition of short- and long-term proliferation compared to the individual treatments. Also, higher

• chemotherapeutics and cytotoxic agents by chemosensitizing cancer cells [16][23][24][25][26]. In our previous studies, CNTs and CNFs sensitized prostate and bladder cancer cells to the platinum-based chemotherapeutics carboplatin (CP) and cisplatin (CDDP) via an enhanced inhibition of short- and long-term

Nanotopographical control of surfaces using chemical vapor deposition processes

• Meike Koenig and
• Joerg Lahann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1250–1256, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.126

• carboxylic acid-terminated alkanethiols, iron salt exposure on the surface could be spatially defined, which again prevented polymer growth [18]. Further investigations with a wider variety of PPX derivatives were conducted by Chen et al. [22]. For PPX derivatives containing oxygen or nitrogen, no inhibition

• demonstrated. The inhibition of chain growth by transition metals was also demonstrated for different types of monomers by Kwong et al. [19][23]. Various metals and metal salts were found to inhibit the growth of acrylate-based polymers and poly(4-vinylpyridine) (P4VP). Copper salts such as CuCl2 and Cu(NO3)2

• were identified for effective inhibition of all investigated types of polymers. The patterned deposition was demonstrated by screen printing of a solution of the metal salt using a mask. No polymer deposition occurred on locations treated with the metal salt (Figure 2c). In order to pattern surfaces

Nano-engineered skin mesenchymal stem cells: potential vehicles for tumour-targeted quantum-dot delivery

• Liga Saulite,
• Dominyka Dapkute,
• Karlis Pleiko,
• Ineta Popena,
• Simona Steponkiene,
• Ricardas Rotomskis and
• Una Riekstina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1218–1230, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.123

• daughter cells (Figure 3c). Inhibition of proliferation was additionally confirmed by analysing the cell number in the respective medium (data not shown). The addition of QDs did not change the expression of Ki67 (data not shown). QD effect on immunophenotype, proliferation and differentiation of MSCs The

• observations have been reported in the study of mouse embryonic stem cells, where QD loss was still detected after the inhibition of cell proliferation, suggesting that QDs might be excreted from cells [50]. Indeed, we demonstrated that MSCs could be repetitively labelled by the removal of supernatants from QD

• membrane transporters for the elimination of toxic reagents [53]. The induction of ABC transporter P-glycoprotein increases the elimination of QDs from HEK and HepG2 cells, while its inhibition demonstrated an opposite effect. The elimination rate was higher in HEK cells, because of the stem cell phenotype

Recombinant DNA technology and click chemistry: a powerful combination for generating a hybrid elastin-like-statherin hydrogel to control calcium phosphate mineralization

• Mohamed Hamed Misbah,
• Mercedes Santos,
• Luis Quintanilla,
• Christina Günter,
• Matilde Alonso,
• Andreas Taubert and
• José Carlos Rodríguez-Cabello

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 772–783, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.80

• %) are achieved for both hydrogels. The present work shows the merit of using the in situ-inhibition CP approach, where SNA15 moieties are regularly distributed along the hydrogel matrix for controlling the CP mineralization process. The combination of the self-assembly properties of ELRs with the

• biomedical applications. At the same time, these materials, at the insoluble state, have the ability to control the formation of CP in terms of both phase and morphology, different from the ones formed at the soluble state. Conclusion The present work shows the merit of using the in situ-inhibition CP

Synthesis of graphene–transition metal oxide hybrid nanoparticles and their application in various fields

• Arpita Jana,
• Elke Scheer and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 688–714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.74

The longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

• Florent Pessina and
• Denis Spitzer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 452–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.49

• previously saw for milling. Yet this delicate step is required since the reactivity of high energetic materials is fully exploited in the dried state. Freeze drying and supercritical drying seem to kinetically and partially prevent crystal growth from occurring. Only a complete growth inhibition will lead to

Optical and photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanoplumes

• Viviana Scuderi,
• Massimo Zimbone,
• Maria Miritello,
• Giuseppe Nicotra,
• Giuliana Impellizzeri and
• Vittorio Privitera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 190–195, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.20

• visible region [7]. Different approaches were proposed to overcome this limit: the inhibition of the recombination of photogenerated electrons and holes [8][9], the increase of the exposed surface area [10][11][12], and the decrease of the band-gap energy [13][14]. Recently, Chen et al. were able to

Facile fabrication of luminescent organic dots by thermolysis of citric acid in urea melt, and their use for cell staining and polyelectrolyte microcapsule labelling

• Nadezhda M. Zholobak,
• Anton L. Popov,
• Alexander B. Shcherbakov,
• Nelly R. Popova,
• Mykhailo M. Guzyk,
• Valeriy P. Antonovich,
• Alla V. Yegorova,
• Yuliya V. Scrypynets,
• Inna I. Leonenko,
• Alexander Ye. Baranchikov and
• Vladimir K. Ivanov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1905–1917, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.182

• cells. Thus, at concentrations of up to 3,000 μg/mL, O-dots are non-toxic for normal cellular cultures, but inhibit the activity of NADP-H-dependent oxidoreductase enzymes of cells. Reducing the concentration of O-dots down to 700–900 μg/mL causes an inhibition of cell metabolism of less than 15

• find an application in the inhibition of the metabolic activity of the tumour cells. Synthesized O-dots combine the properties of dyes to provide differential staining of cells in various functional states, as well as the ability to inhibit enzymatic activity in highly metabolizing cells. This

High performance Ce-doped ZnO nanorods for sunlight-driven photocatalysis

• Bilel Chouchene,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Lavinia Balan,
• Emilien Girot,
• Kevin Mozet,
• Ghouti Medjahdi and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1338–1349, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.125

• (S2−, HCO3−, CO32−, SO42−, NO3− and H2PO4−) keeping Na+ as cation and maintaining the pH value at 7.0 (Figure 11b). As previously, the influence of these salts on the photocatalytic efficiency was found to be modest and no strong inhibition was observed. These results demonstrate that the ZnO:Ce

• (Figure 12a) [58]. Glucose, a reducing sugar (100 mg/L), urea (100 mg/L) or Na2S (10 mg/L) only slightly decreased the photodegradation rate of Orange II at pH 7 (Figure 12b). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) (10 mg/L) and aniline (10 mg/L) had a more pronounced inhibition effect (degradation of Orange II in

• degradation. When t-BuOH, a •OH radical scavenger [59] was added at a 40 mL/L concentration, the kinetic of photocatalytic degradation of Orange II was reduced and required ca. 3.4-fold more time compared to the experiment conducted in the absence of t-BuOH (Figure 14). The strong inhibition of the

Viability and proliferation of endothelial cells upon exposure to GaN nanoparticles

• Tudor Braniste,
• Ion Tiginyanu,
• Tibor Horvath,
• Simion Raevschi,
• Serghei Cebotari,
• Marco Lux,
• Axel Haverich and
• Andres Hilfiker

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1330–1337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.124

• vasculature building to supply the cells with nutrients. The manipulation of angiogenesis might also result in inhibition of blood vessel development. The ability to stimulate or inhibit the formation of blood vessels is of paramount importance for the development of new organs and it is a challenge for

Preparation of alginate–chitosan–cyclodextrin micro- and nanoparticles loaded with anti-tuberculosis compounds

• Albert Ivancic,
• Fliur Macaev,
• Fatma Aksakal,
• Veaceslav Boldescu,
• Serghei Pogrebnoi and
• Gheorghe Duca

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1208–1218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.112

• and candidosis (cutaneous and vaginal) [20]. The main mechanism of the fungistatic effect of ISN is the inhibition of lanosterol 14a-demethylation in the ergosterol biosynthesis in the fungal membrane. At the same time, in the case of a prolonged use of ISN, a fungicidal effect can be observed, which

• is unrelated to the inhibition of the ergosterol synthesis but rather involves rapid membrane damage. As antimycotic, ISN is active against dermatophytes, moulds, yeast, and yeast-like fungi. It is also active against Corynebacterium minutissimum, the microorganism causing erythrasma [21][22]. In

• activity at lower concentrations. System 1, producing an isoconazole concentration of 10 μg/mL in the treatment medium, caused 100% inhibition of the growth of M. tuberculosis. Comparable results were achieved with the INH-containing microparticulate systems (systems 2–5) at a concentration of active