Photothermally active nanoparticles as a promising tool for eliminating bacteria and biofilms

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Piersandro Pallavicini,
• Angelo Taglietti,
• Laura D’Alfonso,
• Maddalena Collini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1134–1146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.98

• nanocomposites for the light-triggered eradication of bacteria and biofilms. Keywords: antibacterial activity; bacteria eradication; nanoparticles; NIR light; photothermal effect; Introduction Bacteria are considered the major source of hospital-acquired nosocomial infections and patients are at a risk higher

• formation are controversial as the Ag nanoparticles seem to be effective against the Gram-negative but not so much against the Gram-positive strains [6]. The antibacterial properties of a wide range of nanoparticles and their corresponding nanocomposites, such as ZnO [17][18], TiO2 [19][20], Fe3O4 [21][22

• nanomaterial used, for example, aqueous solutions, self-assembled monolayers or polymeric nanocomposites [33]. In the case of plasmonic nanoparticles, the plasmonic properties (i.e., the maximum position of the absorption band and the band shape) are strongly affected by the conditions under which the

Gram-scale synthesis of splat-shaped Ag–TiO₂ nanocomposites for enhanced antimicrobial properties

• Mohammad Jaber,
• Asim Mushtaq,
• Kebiao Zhang,
• Jindan Wu,
• Dandan Luo,
• Zihan Yi,
• M. Zubair Iqbal and
• Xiangdong Kong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1119–1125, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.96

• multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. In this regard, metal-oxide-based antibacterial nanomaterials have received potential research interest due to the efficient prevention of microorganism growth. In this study, splat-shaped Ag–TiO2 nanocomposites (NCs) were synthesized on the gram scale and the enhanced

• . The improvement in the antibacterial activity was attributed to the synergistic effect of the hybrid nature of TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of Ag. Keywords: antimicrobial properties; biomaterials; nanocomposites; silver nanoparticles; titanium dioxide; Introduction The rapid industrial

• which have significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [16][17]. Importantly, Ag and TiO2 NPs have been reported to be less toxic to humans [2][18][19][20]. In comparison to single NPs, the nanocomposites have advantages in terms of multifunctional use

Wet-spinning of magneto-responsive helical chitosan microfibers

• Dorothea Brüggemann,
• Johanna Michel,
• Naiana Suter,
• Matheus Grande de Aguiar and
• Michael Maas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 991–999, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.83

• dressings [36], and nanohydroxyapatite was embedded into chitosan fibers for bone tissue engineering applications [37]. Likewise, magnetic iron oxide particles have been blended with chitosan to prepare electrospun composite fibers [38][39] to form magneto-responsive polymer nanocomposites for bone tissue

Preparation, characterization and photocatalytic performance of heterostructured CuO–ZnO-loaded composite nanofiber membranes

• Wei Fang,
• Liang Yu and
• Lan Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 631–650, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.50

• a high photocatalytic activity because of a better charge separation [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Liu et al. [23] prepared CuO/ZnO nanocomposites by homogeneous coprecipitation and used them for the photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange. Wei et al. [24] fabricated CuO/ZnO composite nanofilms

• using cathodic co-electrodeposition and observed their photocatalytic performance. Fierro et al. [25] synthesized CuO–ZnO composite catalysts by temperature-programmed reduction and applied them in photocatalytic degradation. Nanocomposites loaded with metal oxide semiconductors have excellent optical

•  22. When hydrophilic CuO and ZnO are loaded on the surface of nanofibers, water droplets can spread into the gaps of the flaky CuO–ZnO structures, leading to the hydrophilic character of the CNFMs. Photocatalytic degradation experiment Recently, researches on the application of CuO–ZnO nanocomposites

Silver-decorated gel-shell nanobeads: physicochemical characterization and evaluation of antibacterial properties

• Marta Bartel,
• Katarzyna Markowska,
• Marcin Strawski,
• Krystyna Wolska and
• Maciej Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 620–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.49

• inhibitory (MBIC) concentrations are comparable to those of non-incorporated silver nanoparticles. Keywords: Escherichia coli; gel-shell particles; minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC); minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC); nanocomposites; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; silver nanoparticles

• , respectively [25]. In another study, citrate-stabilized nanoparticles (average diameter of 9 nm) inhibited the growth of E. coli and S. aureus at 10 and 5 μg/mL, respectively [26]. We report herein on the synthesis of nanocomposites with antibacterial properties. The polystyrene nanobeads were modified with

Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• spectroscopy [37], bio-nanocomposites with clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices [38], a biomimetic nanofluidic diode with polymeric carbon nitride nanotubes [39], and a unique Janus-micromotor applied as a luminescence sensor for sensitive TNT detection [40]. The variety of nanoarchitectonics

Size effects of graphene nanoplatelets on the properties of high-density polyethylene nanocomposites: morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical characterization

• Tuba Evgin,
• Alpaslan Turgut,
• Georges Hamaoui,
• Zdenko Spitalsky,
• Nicolas Horny,
• Matej Micusik,
• Mihai Chirtoc,
• Mehmet Sarikanat and
• Maria Omastova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 167–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.14

• of Mechanical Engineering, Ege University, 35100, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey 10.3762/bjnano.11.14 Abstract High-density polyethylene (HDPE)-based nanocomposites incorporating three different types of graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) were fabricated to investigate the size effects of GnPs in terms of both

• lateral size and thickness on the morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. The results show that the inclusion of GnPs enhance the thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of HDPE-based nanocomposites regardless of GnP size. Nevertheless, the most significant enhancement of the

• ’ mechanical properties due to poorer dispersion compared to the others. In addition, the size of the GnPs had no considerable effect on the melting and crystallization properties of the HDPE/GnP nanocomposites. Keywords: electrical properties; graphene nanoplatelets; mechanical properties; polymer matrix

Gold and silver dichroic nanocomposite in the quest for 3D printing the Lycurgus cup

• Lars Kool,
• Floris Dekker,
• Anton Bunschoten,
• Glen J. Smales,
• Brian R. Pauw,
• Aldrik H. Velders and
• Vittorio Saggiomo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 16–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.2

• effect of the nanoparticles was attributed to their size and their particular dodecahedral shape. Although the green/red dichroism is visually excellent, the four months’ synthesis is a hindrance for fast production and screening of nanocomposites. Our previously reported dichroic AuNP were synthesised

• in a brown coloured solution. We speculate that, as both nanoparticles are not coated with strong ligands, they are prone to metallic exchange between them. To avoid this, we embedded gold and silver nanoparticles separately in PVA for manufacturing AuNP@PVA and Ag@PVA nanocomposites (Supporting

• micrographs of Ag and Au nanoparticles, SAXS data, pictures of the Lycurgus cup under different illumination, transmission and reflectance spectra of AuNP/AgNP @PVA nanocomposites. Supporting Information File 39: Video of dichroic Ag nanoparticles and 3D printed nanocomposites. Supporting Information File 40

Advanced hybrid nanomaterials

• Andreas Taubert,
• Fabrice Leroux,
• Pierre Rabu and
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2563–2567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.247

• into a broad scientific and technological subject including important fields such as sol–gel chemistry [4][5], polymer nanocomposites [6][7], and hybrid nanomaterials [8][9]. Nowadays, hybrid materials are almost everywhere and provide a wide range of applications from biology and health, to photonic

• ]. The mesostructures are highly pH-sensitive, adopting 2D-hexagonal, wormlike or lamellar organization depending on the extent of the electrostatic complexing bonds and on the condensation rate. More complex assemblies involving ternary compositions in “Ternary nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide

• nanostructuration and related issues. Nanofillers Nanocomposites remain a vast playground for research into new hybrid systems. A common approach for polymer fillers presented in this thematic issue is their use as organo-modified layered double hydroxides (LDHs) or new layered calcium phenylphosphonates, as well

Small protein sequences can induce cellular uptake of complex nanohybrids

• Jan-Philip Merkl,
• Malak Safi,
• Christian Schmidtke,
• Fadi Aldeek,
• Johannes Ostermann,
• Tatiana Domitrovic,
• Sebastian Gärtner,
• John E. Johnson,
• Horst Weller and
• Hedi Mattoussi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2477–2482, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.238

• cellular fate of these structures rather than appearance in solution. The confocal microscopy data were further exploited to generate a z-stack, to visualize the fluorescence distribution of the nanocomposites side-by-side with that of the Cy5 dye and cell nuclei. The 3D-stack, shown in Figure 2A, confirms

• a region, where the QD fluorescence staining is close to the Cy5-transferrin associated with the endosomal marker (Figure 2C). The two stainings corresponding to the nanohybrids and Cy-5-transferrin do not share the same compartments. Clearly, these findings combined show that the nanocomposites

pH-Controlled fluorescence switching in water-dispersed polymer brushes grafted to modified boron nitride nanotubes for cellular imaging

• Saban Kalay,
• Yurij Stetsyshyn,
• Volodymyr Donchak,
• Khrystyna Harhay,
• Ostap Lishchynskyi,
• Halyna Ohar,
• Yuriy Panchenko,
• Stanislav Voronov and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2428–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.233

• )-functionalized BNNTs Fluorescence microscopy of living cells has become an integral part of modern cell biology. Most often cellular imaging is provided using fluorescent labels, including fluorescent dyes, nanoparticles, nanocomposites or proteins [55]. This label must meet certain criteria, such as

Targeted therapeutic effect against the breast cancer cell line MCF-7 with a CuFe₂O₄/silica/cisplatin nanocomposite formulation

• B. Rabindran Jermy,
• Vijaya Ravinayagam,
• Widyan A. Alamoudi,
• Dana Almohazey,
• Hatim Dafalla,
• Lina Hussain Allehaibi,
• Abdulhadi Baykal,
• Muhammet S. Toprak and
• Thirunavukkarasu Somanathan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2217–2228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.214

• materials have been reported to be effective for cancer therapeutics [3][4]. However, due to the poor crystallinity of SPIONs on silica supports, a low saturation value of magnetization occurs in the silica bound nanocomposites. For instance, the magnetometer (superconducting quantum interference device

• (SQUID)) analysis of silica/iron oxide nanocomposites showed the magnetization of 1.65 emu/g. Recently, we have showed that micrometer-sized spherical silica exhibit the highest magnetization of 1.44 emu/g, while silicalite showed the lowest value of 0.08 emu/g, respectively [5]. Although the saturated

• form aggregates, exert variable oxidation states and result in dose-dependent toxicity. Several supports, including silica and carbon, were used to reduce such aggregation. Notably, different types of nanocomposites were reported based on Co, Ni, Mn and Fe over mesoporous carbon capsules [8]. A carbon

Ultrathin Ni_1−xCo_xS₂ nanoflakes as high energy density electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors

• Xiaoxiang Wang,
• Teng Wang,
• Rusen Zhou,
• Lijuan Fan,
• Shengli Zhang,
• Feng Yu,
• Tuquabo Tesfamichael,
• Liwei Su and
• Hongxia Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2207–2216, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.213

• , which makes it difficult to compare the electrochemical performance among the different nanostructures of transition metal chalcogenides. Herein, we have fabricated ultrathin Ni1−xCoxS2 nanoflakes by sulfurising a NiCo oxide precursor. We have found that the as-prepared Ni1−xCoxS2 nanocomposites well

Porous silver-coated pNIPAM-co-AAc hydrogel nanocapsules

• William W. Bryan,
• Riddhiman Medhi,
• Maria D. Marquez,
• Supparesk Rittikulsittichai,
• Michael Tran and
• T. Randall Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1973–1982, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.194

• Interest in the preparation and utilization of uniquely structured nanocomposites continues to expand due to their potential use in electronics, optics, magnetism, medicine, catalysis, and energy applications [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The physical and chemical properties of these materials provide significant

• hydrogel and polymer nanocomposites with silver nanoparticles [70][71][72][73]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there have been no reports of NIR-active porous silver nanocapsules containing thermo-responsive hydrogel (or any kind of polymer) cores. The methods described herein illustrate the

Growth dynamics and light scattering of gold nanoparticles in situ synthesized at high concentration in thin polymer films

• Corentin Guyot,
• Philippe Vandestrick,
• Ingrid Marenne,
• Olivier Deparis and
• Michel Voué

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1768–1777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.172

• solar infrared radiation [3][4], in random lasers [5][6], in non-linear optical applications [7][8][9] and in sensors or bio-medical diagnostics [10][11][12]. More recently, nanocomposites containing AuNPs received even more attention due to their saturable absorption. Indeed, plasmonic nanocomposites

• nanocomposites, which globally belong to two categories: the synthesis of NPs in a liquid medium, which provides good control during their growth, or the in situ synthesis of NPs, e.g., by thermal annealing of a noble metal-doped solid phase such as HAuCl4-doped polymer films. In the latter approach there is

• simpler. In a single step, both the gold salt and the polymer are mixed to prepare the nanocomposite. The simplicity of the method is regarded as a great advantage for the production of nanocomposites for various applications in nano-optics. The principle of in situ methods is the use of one of the matrix

Layered double hydroxide/sepiolite hybrid nanoarchitectures for the controlled release of herbicides

• Ediana Paula Rebitski,
• Margarita Darder and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1679–1690, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.163

• interphases as those provided by organoclays [12]. Besides typical 2D layered clays, fibrous (sepiolite, palygorskite) and tubular (halloysite, imogolite) clays are attracting growing interest in the development of a large variety of functional nanomaterials and nanocomposites for application in diverse

High-temperature resistive gas sensors based on ZnO/SiC nanocomposites

• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Marina N. Rumyantseva,
• Alexander S. Frolov,
• Alexey D. Yapryntsev and
• Alexander M. Gaskov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1537–1547, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.151

• dispersed silicon carbide (SiC). In this work, ZnO and SiC nanofibers were synthesized by electrospinning of polymer solutions followed by heat treatment, which is necessary for polymer removal and crystallization of semiconductor materials. ZnO/SiC nanocomposites (15–45 mol % SiC) were obtained by mixing

• °C. The ZnO/SiC nanocomposites were characterized by a higher concentration of chemisorbed oxygen, higher activation energy of conductivity, and higher sensor response towards CO and NH3 as compared with ZnO nanofibers. The obtained experimental results were interpreted in terms of the formation of

• composite materials with respect to temperature, radiation, chemical and mechanical effects [6][7]. It has been shown that in MO/SiC nanocomposites containing metal oxide (MO) and nanostructured SiC, the presence of silicon carbide inhibits the growth of MO crystallites at high temperatures [8]. The

Hierarchically structured 3D carbon nanotube electrodes for electrocatalytic applications

• Pei Wang,
• Katarzyna Kulp and
• Michael Bron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1475–1487, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.146

• electrocatalysts. The bottom-up synthesis of these nanocomposites was monitored using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy, and it is demonstrated that the hierarchical structures can be tuned with respect to thickness, length, and density of the CNTs. The activity of the Pt-CNT/CNT/GC

Kelvin probe force microscopy of the nanoscale electrical surface potential barrier of metal/semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere

• Petr Knotek,
• Tomáš Plecháček,
• Jan Smolík,
• Petr Kutálek,
• Filip Dvořák,
• Milan Vlček,
• Jiří Navrátil and
• Čestmír Drašar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1401–1411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.138

• enhancement of ZT values, e.g., advanced TE bulk compounds of more complex crystal structures [1], low-dimensional material systems [2] or nanostructured advanced bulk materials [3]. Recently the concept of multi-phase nanocomposites (NCs), i.e., an incorporation of second-phase nanoinclusions/nanoparticals

Gas sensing properties of individual SnO₂ nanowires and SnO₂ sol–gel nanocomposites

• Alexey V. Shaposhnik,
• Dmitry A. Shaposhnik,
• Sergey Yu. Turishchev,
• Olga A. Chuvenkova,
• Stanislav V. Ryabtsev,
• Alexey A. Vasiliev,
• Xavier Vilanova,
• Francisco Hernandez-Ramirez and
• Joan R. Morante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1380–1390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.136

Highly ordered mesoporous silica film nanocomposites containing gold nanoparticles for the catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol

• Mohamad Azani Jalani,
• Leny Yuliati,
• Siew Ling Lee and
• Hendrik O. Lintang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1368–1379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.135

• synthesis method using discotic trinuclear gold(I) pyrazolate complex, were successfully utilized for the fabrication of thin film mesoporous silica nanocomposites containing gold nanoparticles. The material exhibited a highly ordered hexagonal structure when subjected to a thermal hydrogen reduction

• treatment at 210 °C. In contrast, when the material was subjected to calcination as a heat treatment from 190 to 450 °C, the thin film nanocomposites showed an intense d100 X-ray diffraction peak. Moreover, gold nanoparticles inside the thin film nanocomposites were confirmed by the presence of the d111

• . Such catalytic activity is due to the presence of gold nanoparticles of smaller size in the silicate channels of the highly ordered mesoporous film nanocomposites. Keywords: catalyst; gold nanoparticle; mesoporous silica; nanocomposite; thermal hydrogen reduction; 4-nitrophenol reduction

Multicomponent bionanocomposites based on clay nanoarchitectures for electrochemical devices

• Giulia Lo Dico,
• Bernd Wicklein,
• Lorenzo Lisuzzo,
• Giuseppe Lazzara,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1303–1315, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.129

• recent years, the “nanoarchitectonics” concept has helped to develop a large variety of materials with new functionalities [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Among them, different types of functional materials based on clay minerals have been also prepared; pillared clays and polymer–clay nanocomposites are the best

• ][21]. However, one of the main problems limiting the preparation of HNT-based nanoarchitectured materials is the low colloidal stability of HNTs in aqueous media. This ultimately leads to inhomogeneous and badly performing nanocomposites in spite of the different approaches that have been developed to

• the direct electron transfer (DET) mode. Results and Discussion Preparation of bionanocomposite films and foams The preparation of multicomponent nanoarchitectured materials used as functional nanofiller in the further preparation of bioactive and conducting nanocomposites was carried out by mixing of

Synthesis of novel C-doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets coupled with CdIn₂S₄ for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Jingshuai Chen,
• Chang-Jie Mao,
• Helin Niu and
• Ji-Ming Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 912–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.92

• to analyze the crystal structure, morphology, elementary composition, optical properties and catalytic mechanism. The CdIn2S4/CCN nanocomposites with optimal CdIn2S4 content exhibited a maximum H2 production rate of 2985 μmol h−1 g−1, almost 15 times more than that obtained using pure g-C3N4 (205

• photocatalytic activity of g-C3N4 is severely restricted by the inefficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and insufficient photon absorption. Up to now, a variety of strategies such as anion doping, novel metal deposition on surfaces and the design of heterojunctions/nanocomposites have been

• ascribed to O–H of absorbed water and the stretching modes of uncondensed amine groups [4]. Obviously, after the combination of CdIn2S4 and CCN, the resulting CISCCN nanocomposites possess similar FTIR spectra as that of the CCN sample. The microstructure and morphology of the as-fabricated CCN and CISCCN3

Tungsten disulfide-based nanocomposites for photothermal therapy

• Tzuriel Levin,
• Hagit Sade,
• Rina Ben-Shabbat Binyamini,
• Maayan Pour,
• Iftach Nachman and
• Jean-Paul Lellouche

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 811–822, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.81

• effect, other ligands on the cerium ion can be replaced by different polymers and linkers. The resulting nanocomposites can be used for biomedical applications, such as gene silencing [52], magnetic imaging, and drug delivery. Here we present a new and simple-to-fabricate WS2-NT-CAN-mag (WS2-NT-CM

• (cervical cancer) and MCF7 cells (breast cancer), in higher percentages compared to non-functionalized nanotubes. In addition, WS2-CAN-mag nanocomposites with two types of organic polymers were successfully prepared and characterized. Indeed, functionalization with CAN-mag gives WS2 nanotubes the added

• of polymer-functionalized WS2-NT-CM nanocomposites WS2-NT-CM (20 mg) was dispersed in ddH2O (75 mL) using an ultrasonic bath. Then, polyethylenimine (11.5 mg, branched PEI, Mw ≈ 25000, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, US) dissolved in ddH2O (1 mL) was added. The mixture was shaken at 15 °C for 48 h (220

An efficient electrode material for high performance solid-state hybrid supercapacitors based on a Cu/CuO/porous carbon nanofiber/TiO₂ hybrid composite

• Mamta Sham Lal,
• Thirugnanam Lavanya and
• Sundara Ramaprabhu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 781–793, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.78

• decompose and offer the porous nature to the fiber during heat treatment [15]. CuO is one of the promising candidates for supercapacitors owning to its natural abundance, ecologically friendly and inexpensive characteristics. Moreover, Cu/CuO-based carbonaceous nanocomposites have emerged as an attractive

• , PCNF, Cu/PCNF, TiO2 and Cu/CuO/PCNF/TiO2 nanocomposites were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) as shown in Figure 3. XRD pattern of CNF and PCNF shows the most relevant characteristic peaks at 2θ = 25.4°, 44.2° and 2θ = 25.1°, 44.0°, respectively, which correspond to (002) and (101) planes with d