Journal: Nano Today

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Elsevier

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1748-0132
1878-044X

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Publications 1 - 10 of 11
  • Carbon nanotubes for nanorobotics
    Item type: Review Article
    Dong, Lixin; Subramanian, Arunkumar; Nelson, Bradley J. (2007)
    Nano Today
  • The analytical quest for sub-micron plastics in biological matrices
    Item type: Journal Article
    Monikh, Fazel Abdolahpur; Vijver, Martina G.; Mitrano, Denise Marie; et al. (2021)
    Nano Today
    The current debate on hazards associated with sub-micron sized plastics is hampered by a lack of quantitative data on the uptake and biological fate of plastics in organisms. Analytical methods should be developed to identify, characterize, and quantify sub-micron particulate plastic in biota to understand their biological fate in terms of biodistribution, localization, bioaccumulation and clearance. Here we give a perspective on a promising workflow of sample preparation methods and techniques that could enable analysis of sub-micron plastics in biological matrices and discuss their application for biological fate studies of particulate plastic in organisms. We also expect these methods to be largely transferrable to studies considering sub-micron plastics in food, consumer products, human and some environmental compartments.
  • The rise of private–public collaboration in nanotechnology
    Item type: Journal Article
    Zingg, Raphael; Fischer, Marius (2019)
    Nano Today
    Against the backdrop of increasing private–public partnerships over the last decades, we are able to see the first promising signs in terms of research output, proxied by patents. Although the dominant innovation model seems to remain independent research and development, the partnering motion has the potential to remedy the criticized lack of technology transfer in the nanotechnology field. Nations entering the nano-space can strengthen their potential for growth by capitalizing on collaborative environments.
  • Broken but not beaten: Unraveling the biotransformation fate of Mn@PCN224 nanozymes and its influence on enzymatic activity and safety at the human placenta in vitro
    Item type: Journal Article
    Tagaras, Nikolaos; Song, Haihan; Reina, Giacomo; et al. (2025)
    Nano Today
    Chronic placental inflammation has been associated with severe pregnancy complications including miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, intra-uterine growth restriction, and recurrence risk in future pregnancies. Treatments are essential, but current standard therapies for infections and inflammation often struggle with limited efficacy and potential side effects. Nanomaterials with enzyme-mimetic properties (nanozymes) have demonstrated impressive medical capabilities especially in inflammation treatment. Remarkably, single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted considerable attention due to their superior substrate affinity and catalytic activity compared to conventional nanozymes. However, due to their high reactivity, nanozymes could undergo biotransformation in biological fluids and tissues, affecting their physicochemical properties and potentially compromising their therapeutic efficacy and safety. On this basis, we performed a systematic study on the chemical and structural biotransformation, catalytic activity and biological impact of a PCN224 MOF at the human placenta in vitro. We engineered a PCN224 MOF, composed of zirconium clusters (Zr₆) and 4-carboxyphenyl-porphyrin (H₂TCPP), further doping it with Mn (Mn@PCN224) to form Mn-TCPP complexes. These complexes mimic the natural Mn-superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), a crucial enzyme to detoxify cells from radical stress during inflammation. In biological media, Mn@PCN224 underwent rapid and substantial decomposition, leading to a significant release of Mn-TCPP complexes. Nonetheless, despite the observed biotransformation, the SOD activity was maintained, mostly by the free Mn-TCPP bearing the enzyme-like active center. We further revealed that Mn@PCN224 SAzymes and their biotransformation products did not compromise cell viability, barrier integrity and endocrine function in an in vitro human placenta co-culture model. The current findings provide crucial insights about the biotransformation mechanism of a MOF-based SAzyme and emphasize the importance of biostability assessment, in addition to efficacy and safety evaluation.
  • From colloidal dispersions to aerogels: How to master nanoparticle gelation
    Item type: Review Article
    Matter, Fabian; Luna, Ana L.; Niederberger, Markus (2020)
    Nano Today
    Nanoparticle-based aerogels are one of the few examples of 3-dimensional nanoparticle assemblies that can achieve macroscopic sizes while fully retaining the size-specific properties of the initial nanobuilding blocks. A typical synthesis involves three main steps: i) Preparation of a stable dispersion containing all the building blocks with the desired composition, size, shape and crystallinity, ii) controlled destabilization of the dispersion into a gel, and iii) drying of the gels under preservation of the 3-dimensional nanoparticle architecture. In this review, we focus on the first two steps. We discuss the stability of colloidal dispersions, offering an overview of the different interparticle forces and how they can experimentally be modulated. In the next section, we discuss the gelation process in its entirety, including gelation mechanisms, and, most importantly, how it can rationally be controlled under consideration of the interparticle forces in the dispersion. Finally, the review concludes with an overview of the synthesis pathways to nanoparticle-based aerogels, divided into the gelation of sterically and charge-stabilized particles.
  • Layer-by-layer growth of bilayer graphene single-crystals enabled by proximity catalytic activity
    Item type: Journal Article
    Zhang, Zhihong; Zhou, Linwei; Chen, Zhaoxi; et al. (2024)
    Nano Today
    Direct growth of large-area vertically stacked two-dimensional (2D) van der Waal (vdW) materials is a prerequisite for their high-end applications in integrated electronics, optoelectronics and photovoltaics. Currently, centimetre- to even metre-scale monolayers of single-crystal graphene (MLG) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) have been achieved by epitaxial growth on various single-crystalline substrates. However, in principle, this success in monolayer epitaxy seems extremely difficult to be replicated to bi- or few-layer growth, as the full coverage of the first layer was believed to terminate the reactivity of those adopting catalytic metal surfaces. Here, we report an exceptional layer-by-layer chemical vapour deposition (CVD) growth of large size bi-layer graphene single-crystals, enabled by proximity catalytic activity from platinum (Pt) surfaces to the outermost graphene layers. In-situ growth and real-time surveillance experiments, under well-controlled environments, unambiguously verify that the growth does follow the layer-by-layer mode on open surfaces of MLG/Pt(111). First-principles calculations indicate that the transmittal of catalytic activity is allowed by an appreciable electronic hybridisation between graphene overlayers and Pt surfaces, enabling catalytic dissociation of hydrocarbons and subsequently direct graphitisation of their radicals on the outermost sp2 carbon surface. This proximity catalytic activity is also proven to be robust for tube-furnace CVD in fabricating single-crystalline graphene bi-, tri- and tetra-layers, as well as h-BN few-layers. Our findings offer an exceptional strategy for potential controllable, layer-by-layer and wafer-scale growth of vertically stacked few-layered 2D single crystals.
  • Biohybrid nanointerfaces for neuromodulation
    Item type: Review Article
    Filippi, Miriam; Balciunaite, Aiste; Katzschmann, Robert K. (2024)
    Nano Today
    Neural prostheses are bio-hybrid devices that interface electrodes with human tissue to stimulate neurons or record their activity. Conventional neural interfaces require surgical insertion of electrodes into the tissue to form contact with target cells and do not coherently integrate with the surrounding tissue. To overcome these limitations, advanced micro/nano-implants are proposed, which incorporate soft and nanomaterials featuring biophysical responsiveness, biocompatibility, and compliant design. In this review, we describe how stimuli-responsive nanotechnology and deformable materials have contributed to miniaturization, high-resolution operation, and biocompatibility in neuromodulation strategies, with a focus on nanoscaled neurotechnologies that affect neural tissue growth and functionality. We conclude by highlighting future directions for biocompliant and translatable neuromodulation across a combination of nanotransducers, soft implantable materials, and computationally guided interface design.
  • Flame-made nanoparticles for nanocomposites
    Item type: Review Article
    Camenzind, Adrian; Caseri, Walter; Pratsinis, Sotiris E. (2010)
    Nano Today
  • Unravelling nanometallurgy with in situ transmission electron microscopy: A case-study with copper nanowires
    Item type: Journal Article
    Coradini, Diego Santa Rosa; Tunes, Matheus A.; Quick, Cameron; et al. (2024)
    Nano Today
    Technological advances constantly set new challenges for materials development. The miniaturisation of electronic devices demands the migration of metallurgy from macro/micro to the nanoscale, thus requiring a re-definition of existing and classical concepts in this field. The present study reports on the behaviour of pure Cu nanowires with diameters ranging from 40 to 140 nm heated in a low-pressure environment within a transmission electron microscope. The response of Cu nanowires was investigated at different temperatures up to 1123 K and analysed using electron-microscopy techniques, revealing both volumetric and shape changes over time. Sublimation, with a steady-state length reduction of the nanowires, was identified as the dominant effect of such heating. Additionally, it was detected that sublimation occurred not only at temperatures above ≈ 1023 K, where Cu has a higher vapour pressure than the column pressure of the electron-microscope, but also at temperatures as low as 923 K. This behaviour is explained by the presence of active regions at sharply curved regions at the nanowire tip and the imbalance of evaporation and redeposition rates of Cu atoms due to the experimentally-induced loss of vapor atoms. The study of Cu nanowires at the nanoscale with the electron microscope facilitates the elucidation of some fundamental aspects of the emerging science of nanometallurgy.
  • Cell-derived vesicles for drug therapy and diagnostics: Opportunities and challenges
    Item type: Journal Article
    Fuhrmann, Gregor; Herrmann, Inge K.; Stevens, Molly M. (2015)
    Nano Today
Publications 1 - 10 of 11