High antiviral effect of TiO₂·PL–DNA nanocomposites targeted to conservative regions of (−)RNA and (+)RNA of influenza A virus in cell culture

• Asya S. Levina,
• Marina N. Repkova,
• Elena V. Bessudnova,
• Ekaterina I. Filippova,
• Natalia A. Mazurkova and
• Valentina F. Zarytova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1166–1173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.108

• TiO2·PL–DNA nanocomposite consisting of titanium dioxide nanoparticles and polylysine (PL)-containing oligonucleotides. Results: The TiO2·PL–DNA nanocomposites bearing the DNA fragments targeted to different conservative regions of (−)RNA and (+)RNA of segment 5 of influenza A virus (IAV) were studied

• the most efficient and inhibited the reproduction of different IAV subtypes by 3–4 orders of magnitude. Although to a lesser extent, the DNA fragments targeted at the AUG region of (+)RNA and the corresponding region of (−)RNA were also active. For all studied viral subtypes, the nanocomposites

• bearing the DNA fragments targeted to (−)RNA appeared to be more efficient than those containing fragments aimed at the corresponding (+)RNA regions. Conclusion: The proposed TiO2·PL–DNA nanocomposites can be successfully used for highly efficient and site-specific inhibition of influenza A virus of

Manufacturing and investigation of physical properties of polyacrylonitrile nanofibre composites with SiO₂, TiO₂ and Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles

• Tomasz Tański,
• Wiktor Matysiak and
• Barbara Hajduk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1141–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.106

• development of materials from the group of polymer nanocomposites (PNCs), which are a combination of a polymer matrix with inorganic or hybrid nanoparticles. For the currently used types of inorganic fillers, inter alia, the following are included: SiO2 [1], metal oxides (TiO2, Al2O3, Bi2O3, Zn0, CaCO3) [2][3

• ][4][5][6], metals (Au, Ag, Al, Fe) [7][8][9], SiC [10] and clays (saponite, montmorillonite, hectorite) [11][12][13]. In nanocomposites, which use inorganic materials at the nano-scale as reinforcement, there is a significant enhancement of properties with a much lower fraction of the reinforcing

• characterised by numerous structural defects, usually occurring on their surface (Figure 5). In addition, with an increase in the concentration of the used reinforcing phases in the produced nanocomposites an increase of defects and an increased heterogeneity of the fibre morphology was identified. X-ray

Voltammetric determination of polyphenolic content in pomegranate juice using a poly(gallic acid)/multiwalled carbon nanotube modified electrode

• Refat Abdel-Hamid and
• Emad F. Newair

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1104–1112, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.103

• rectangular indium tin oxide (ITO) coated glass slide (resistivity of 8–12 Ω/□) was examined using SEM (Figure 1). The film is deposited on the ITO with the same experimental conditions as for the GCE. As shown, the nanocomposite has a short, tubular topology with a smooth surface. The nanocomposites are

Photocurrent generation in carbon nanotube/cubic-phase HfO₂ nanoparticle hybrid nanocomposites

• Protima Rauwel,
• Augustinas Galeckas,
• Martin Salumaa,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Erwan Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1075–1085, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.101

• electronic structure of the C K-edge in the nanocomposites was probed by electron energy loss spectroscopy, highlighting the key role of the MWCNT growth defects in anchoring HfO2 NPs. A combined optical emission and absorption spectroscopy approach illustrated that, in contrast to HfO2 NPs, the metallic

• photoluminescence of the nanocomposites indicates features attributed to combined effects of charge desaturation of HfO2 surface states and charge transfer to the MWCNTs with an overall reduction of radiative recombination. Finally, photocurrent generation under UV–vis illumination suggests that a HfO2 NP/MWCNT

• components for the development of new applications in the field of nanotechnology. It is well known that by combining different classes of materials, one can obtain nanocomposites exhibiting properties of the individual materials along with new characteristics as a result of hybridization. For instance, the

Sandwich-like layer-by-layer assembly of gold nanoparticles with tunable SERS properties

• Zhicheng Liu,
• Lu Bai,
• Guizhe Zhao and
• Yaqing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1028–1032, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.95

• Zhicheng Liu Lu Bai Guizhe Zhao Yaqing Liu Shanxi Province Key Laboratory of Functional Nanocomposites, School of Materials Science and Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China

The influence of phthalocyanine aggregation in complexes with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots on the photophysical properties of the complexes

• Irina V. Martynenko,
• Anna O. Orlova,
• Vladimir G. Maslov,
• Anatoly V. Fedorov,
• Kevin Berwick and
• Alexander V. Baranov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1018–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.94

• ][21]. This statement was recently supported by the Nyokong group [22] where FRET efficiencies up to 93% were predicted in nanocomposites based on glutathione-capped CdTe/CdS/ZnS QDs covalently linked with aluminium sulfonated phthalocyanine. However, analysis of donor PL quenching and acceptor PL

Development of highly faceted reduced graphene oxide-coated copper oxide and copper nanoparticles on a copper foil surface

• Rebeca Ortega-Amaya,
• Yasuhiro Matsumoto,
• Andrés M. Espinoza-Rivas,
• Manuel A. Pérez-Guzmán and
• Mauricio Ortega-López

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1010–1017, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.93

• ; copper(II) oxide; core–shell; reduced graphene oxide; Introduction In the last years, graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) have emerged as suitable candidates to prepare graphene-based nanocomposites [1][2], including those based on GO/inorganic nanoparticles [3]. The opportunity to

• combine GO with inorganic nanoparticles has led to nanocomposites with multiple functionalities [4][5]. Because of this, nanocomposites based on GO/inorganic nanoparticles are currently of interest for applications in biomedicine, energy production, electronics and environmental remediation [6][7][8]. A

Direct formation of gold nanorods on surfaces using polymer-immobilised gold seeds

• Majid K. Abyaneh,
• Pietro Parisse and
• Loredana Casalis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 809–816, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.72

• techniques such as AFM and SEM have been used to support concept of the proposed growth method. Keywords: atomic force microscopy (AFM); direct surface growth; gold nanorods; nanocomposites; poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA); Introduction Gold nanorods (GNRs) are among the most interesting noble metal one

• well as the size of the nanoparticles in polymer matrix [30]. The formation of metal–polymer nanocomposites by UV irradiation is a complex process and it was considered to be important to investigate the effect of irradiation time, polymer species as well as the molecular weight of the polymer on the

• by UV irradiation suggest that the role of polymer Mw in the formation of nanoparticles cannot be ignored. Hence, we have fabricated Au–PMMA nanocomposites using UV photoreduction for two different selected Mw of PMMA. The formation of gold nanoparticles in PMMA matrices with low and high Mw with 20

Fabrication and properties of luminescence polymer composites with erbium/ytterbium oxides and gold nanoparticles

• Julia A. Burunkova,
• Ihor Yu. Denisiuk,
• Dmitri I. Zhuk,
• Lajos Daroczi,
• Attila Csik,
• István Csarnovics and
• Sándor Kokenyesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 630–636, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.55

• ; polymer nanocomposites; rare-earth oxide nanoparticles; Introduction Rare-earth (RE) ions are widely investigated and applied, e.g., in photonics, as active materials for optical amplification or as biomarkers. Er-doped materials are important for light sources in optoelectronics, especially for the

• ]. Planar waveguide amplifiers on the basis of Er-containing nanocomposites are actively investigated as well (see for example [2], where a PMMA-based, Yb2O3/Er2O3-containing polymer nanocomposite waveguide optical amplifier was demonstrated). This material ensures the functioning of the amplifier with an

• macroscopic elements. At the same time one of the main disadvantages of nanocomposites is the high level of light scattering, which can be caused by agglomeration of nanoparticles. So the development of low-scattering, transparent nanocomposites is an important challenge nowadays. The method of thermal

Surface coating affects behavior of metallic nanoparticles in a biological environment

• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ćurlin,
• Ivona Capjak,
• Tea Crnković,
• Marija Lovrić,
• Michal Babič,
• Daniel Horák,
• Ivana Vinković Vrček and
• Srećko Gajović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 246–262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.23

• PLLAgNPs and PVPAgNPs changed in BlPl, but remained unchanged in WhBl (Figure 8). The BSAAgNPs formed square- and rectangular-shaped agglomerates larger than 200 nm in WhBl. Similarly shaped structures were found for PLLAgNPs in BlPl, while PVPAgNPs formed large hexagonal nanocomposites in BlPl (Figure 8

• , where further growth to nanocomposites was accomplished. Thus, our results indicate an in vivo synthesis of metallic nanocrystals in mammalian organisms, similarly to that already described in microorganisms [68]. There are many examples of in vivo formation of nanomaterials (NMs) in biological systems

Synthesis and applications of carbon nanomaterials for energy generation and storage

• Marco Notarianni,
• Jinzhang Liu,
• Kristy Vernon and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 149–196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.17

Evaluation of gas-sensing properties of ZnO nanostructures electrochemically doped with Au nanophases

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 22–31, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.3

• , respectively. The pristine ZnO and Au@ZnO nanocomposites are proposed as active layer in chemiresistive gas sensors for low-cost processing. Gas-sensing measurements towards NO2 were collected at 300 °C, evaluating not only the Au-doping effect, but also the influence of the different ZnO nanostructures on the

• of an in situ electrodecoration procedure based on the so called sacrificial anode electrolysis (SAE) [42][43]. Subsequently, ZnO and Au@ZnO nanocomposites, annealed at two different temperatures, 300 and 550 °C, were morphologically and chemically characterized by means transmission and scanning

• equilibrium resistance value. The recovery time is defined as the time necessary to reach the 90% of the original resistance value in air without the gaseous analyte. Results and Discussion Chemical and structural properties The surface chemical composition of pristine and Au-doped ZnO nanocomposites annealed

Controlled graphene oxide assembly on silver nanocube monolayers for SERS detection: dependence on nanocube packing procedure

• Martina Banchelli,
• Bruno Tiribilli,
• Roberto Pini,
• Luigi Dei,
• Paolo Matteini and
• Gabriella Caminati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 9–21, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.2

• -containing functionalities, which confer to the system additional features including great chemical stability in aqueous media and superior ability of capturing and retaining molecules. Reports on nanoparticle/graphene hybrid nanocomposites showed that SERS signals arising from graphene/metal hybrid

• derivatives and nanoparticles including metal evaporation, electrochemical deposition and layer-by-layer self-assembly techniques [51]. Zarbin's group [20] directly synthesized and assembled silver nanoparticle/graphene oxide nanocomposites at a water/toluene liquid–liquid interface whereas Wang et al. [52

Fabrication of hybrid nanocomposite scaffolds by incorporating ligand-free hydroxyapatite nanoparticles into biodegradable polymer scaffolds and release studies

• Balazs Farkas,
• Marina Rodio,
• Ilaria Romano,
• Alberto Diaspro,
• Romuald Intartaglia and
• Szabolcs Beke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2217–2223, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.227

• osteoconductive and osteoinductive capabilities [5][6], made it a platform for large-scale biomedical applications, such as controlled drug release and bone tissue engineering materials [7][8]. Lee et al. [9] reported on cellular responses to crosslinkable poly(propylene fumarate)/hydroxyapatite nanocomposites

• and showed that these nanocomposites are beneficial for hard tissue replacement due to the excellent mechanical strength and osteoconductivity. They used commercially available HA NPs, whereas we prepared HA NPs by PLAL and controlled the size by this method. They demonstrated also that the addition

Electrochemical behavior of polypyrrol/AuNP composites deposited by different electrochemical methods: sensing properties towards catechol

• Celia García-Hernández,
• Cristina García-Cabezón,
• Cristina Medina-Plaza,
• Fernando Martín-Pedrosa,
• Yolanda Blanco,
• José Antonio de Saja and
• María Luz Rodríguez-Méndez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2052–2061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.209

• generated under potentiostatic and galvanostatic conditions on both platinum and stainless steel substrates, resulting in the formation of nanocomposites based on gold nanoparticles within the polypyrrole layer. Electropolymerization of Ppy/AuNPs Figure 1 shows the potential (E) vs time (t) curves

• lower than the potential obtained when AuNPs were generated in situ (cogeneration). This result seems to confirm that AuNPs affect the nucleation process. Only a small difference was found in the final potential attained by Ppy/AuNPs deposited on Pt or on SS. Nanocomposites Ppy/AuNP were also prepared

• of films deposited onto SS or Pt were almost identical. The average size of the AuNPs was between 30 and 40 nm (regardless of the method used), which is consistent with the absorbance at 540 nm observed by colloid that was used to obtain the nanocomposites by trapping. The number of AuNPs

A facile method for the preparation of bifunctional Mn:ZnS/ZnS/Fe₃O₄ magnetic and fluorescent nanocrystals

• Houcine Labiadh,
• Tahar Ben Chaabane,
• Romain Sibille,
• Lavinia Balan and
• Raphaël Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1743–1751, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.178

• with QDs (e.g., using avidin and biotin) [18][19]. However, there are still some challenges to overcome such as the complexity in the preparation, which involves multistep synthesis and purification stages or the instability and aggregation of the nanocomposites in aqueous solution. Moreover, some of

Radiation losses in the microwave K_u band in magneto-electric nanocomposites

• Talwinder Kaur,
• Sachin Kumar,
• Jyoti Sharma and
• A. K. Srivastava

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1700–1707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.173

• nanocomposites, namely La–Co-substituted barium hexaferrite and polyaniline, is presented. The study was performed by means of a vector network analyser, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron spin resonance spectroscopy and a vibrating sample

• ; Introduction Conducting polymer nanocomposites have been in the focus of research mainly because of a number of attractive technological applications in the microwave region such as radar and radar-absorbing materials [1][2], Wi-Fi systems and other communication systems, and microwave devices. They also have

• paper, we have used the versatile citrate precursor method to synthesize La–Co-substituted barium hexaferrite. Lanthanum and cobalt are used as substituents to enhance the magnetic properties of barium hexaferrite and then emulsion polymerization is employed for the synthesis of nanocomposites. The

Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility study of Au/TMC/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites as a promising, nontoxic system for biomedical applications

• Hanieh Shirazi,
• Maryam Daneshpour,
• Soheila Kashanian and
• Kobra Omidfar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1677–1689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.170

• derivatives, N-trimethylchitosan (TMC), were applied to construct three-layer nanocomposites in an Au/polymer/Fe3O4 system. It was demonstrated that replacement of chitosan with TMC reasonably improved the properties of the final nanocomposites including their size, magnetic behavior and thermal stability

• . Moreover, the results of the MTT assay showed no significant cytotoxicity effect when the Au/TMC/Fe3O4 nanocomposites were applied in vitro. These TMC-containing magnetic nanoparticles are well-coated by Au nanoparticles and have good biocompatibility and can thus play the role of a platform or a label in

• various fields of application, especially the biomedical sciences and biosensors. Keywords: Au/polymer/Fe3O4 nanocomposites; Au nanoparticles; cell viability; magnetic nanoparticles; N-trimethyl chitosan; Introduction Nanotechnology is the science of the fabrication of novel materials, devices and

In situ SU-8 silver nanocomposites

• Søren V. Fischer,
• Basil Uthuppu and
• Mogens H. Jakobsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1661–1665, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.168

• applications. However, device fabrication of such materials always encounters the challenge of incorporation of preformed nanoparticles into photoresist materials. As a solution to this problem, an easy new method of fabricating silver nanocomposites by an in situ reduction of precursors within the epoxy-based

• µm is achieved in the lithographic process. The UV exposure time is found to be independent of the nanoparticle concentration. The fabricated silver nanocomposites exhibit high plasmonic responses suitable for the development of new optoelectronic and optical sensing devices. Keywords: functional

• nanocomposites are therefore of great interest within micro- and nanofabrication [4][5][6]. The nanoparticles encased in a polymeric matrix should maintain their physical properties, while the nanocomposite can be structured by using standard fabrication methods allowing for the development of new optoelectronic

Heterometal nanoparticles from Ru-based molecular clusters covalently anchored onto functionalized carbon nanotubes and nanofibers

• Deborah Vidick,
• Xiaoxing Ke,
• Michel Devillers,
• Claude Poleunis,
• Arnaud Delcorte,
• Pietro Moggi,
• Gustaaf Van Tendeloo and
• Sophie Hermans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1287–1297, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.133

• /nanocarbon composites could find application in heterogeneous catalysis or as anodes for direct methanol fuel cells. After promotion with Cs, we showed that our Ru/C nanocomposites are indeed active in ammonia synthesis under very mild conditions. Experimental The experimental strategy was, in general, very

Improved optical limiting performance of laser-ablation-generated metal nanoparticles due to silica-microsphere-induced local field enhancement

• Zheren Du,
• Lianwei Chen,
• Tsung-Sheng Kao,
• Mengxue Wu and
• Minghui Hong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1199–1204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.122

• threshold is about 1.6 J/cm2. Hence, by adding the silica microspheres, the optical limiting threshold is lowered by 4.6 J/cm2. Figure 3b shows the normalized nonlinear transmittance of the samples (gold nanoparticles and gold/silica nanocomposites) upon excitation with ns laser pulses at 1064 nm. The input

• gold/silica nanocomposites than for the pure gold nanoparticle dispersion. Figure 3c,d shows the optical limiting response and normalized transmittance curves of silver nanoparticles and silver/silica nanocomposites. By adding the silica microspheres, the optical limiting threshold is lowered from 5.4

• and gold/silica nanocomposites and (c,d) silver nanoparticles and silver/silica nanocomposites. (a) SEM image of silica microspheres and (b) FDTD simulation result for a silica microsphere with a diameter of 1 µm under 1064 nm laser irradiation. Field enhancement by microspheres of different sizes

Magnetic properties of iron cluster/chromium matrix nanocomposites

• Arne Fischer,
• Robert Kruk,
• Di Wang and
• Horst Hahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1158–1163, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.117

Interaction of electromagnetic radiation in the 20–200 GHz frequency range with arrays of carbon nanotubes with ferromagnetic nanoparticles

• Agylych Atdayev,
• Alexander L. Danilyuk and
• Serghej L. Prischepa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1056–1064, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.106

• and transmission of electromagnetic radiation. Keywords: carbon nanotubes; electromagnetic radiation; ferromagnetic nanoparticles; magnetic dipole; magnetic nanocomposite; resonance circuit; Introduction Magnetic nanocomposites consisting of ferromagnetic nanoparticles embedded into a matrix

• nanocomposites are prospects for memory storage, emission and high frequency devices. New magnetic nanocomposites based on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [1][2][3] are very promising for high frequency applications [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] such as transmission lines, mixtures and detectors [15][16][17

• ], antennas and absorbing materials [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. The absorption properties of CNT-based nanocomposites are primarily determined by the dielectric loss [27]. However, the intercalation of magnetic nanoparticles into the CNT matrix leads to the increase of the absorption properties due

Effects of swift heavy ion irradiation on structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites prepared by carbothermal evaporation method

• Sini Kuriakose,
• D. K. Avasthi and
• Satyabrata Mohapatra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 928–937, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.96

• prepared by carbothermal evaporation of ZnO and Cu, combined with annealing. The effects of 90 MeV Ni7+ ion irradiation on the structural and optical properties of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites were studied by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), UV–visible

• absorption spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. XRD studies showed the presence of ZnO and CuO nanostructures in the nanocomposites. FESEM images revealed the presence of nanosheets and nanorods in the nanocomposites. The photocatalytic activity of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites was evaluated on the basis of

• degradation of methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under sun light irradiation and it was observed that swift heavy ion irradiation results in significant enhancement in the photocatalytic efficiency of ZnO–CuO nanocomposites towards degradation of MB and MO dyes. The possible mechanism for the

Combination of surface- and interference-enhanced Raman scattering by CuS nanocrystals on nanopatterned Au structures

• Alexander G. Milekhin,
• Nikolay A. Yeryukov,
• Larisa L. Sveshnikova,
• Tatyana A. Duda,
• Ekaterina E. Rodyakina,
• Victor A. Gridchin,
• Evgeniya S. Sheremet and
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 749–754, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.77

• , and CdSe/CdZnS NCs deposited on Ag SERS substrates [6]. A prominent enhancement of Raman scattering by LO phonons was observed in Au-ZnO NC nanocomposites [7] and ZnO NCs covered by Ag [8] excited near resonance with the interband electronic transitions in ZnO NCs. Anomalously enhanced Raman