Nanoscale Advances最新文献

Photocatalytic methane oxidation under mild conditions using single-atom catalysts remains an advanced technology. In this work, gold single atoms (Au SAs) were introduced onto TiO₂ nanostructures using a simple method. The resulting performance demonstrated effective conversion of methane into H₂ and C₂ products at room temperature. The as-synthesized Au SA/TiO₂ exhibited a high hydrogen production rate of 2190 μmol g^-1, with selectivity reaching up to 58% under optimized conditions. The methane oxidation mechanism was investigated, revealing a methyl radical pathway for generating value-added chemicals. This research provides a strategy for photocatalytic methane conversion over single-atom-supported photocatalysts.

Oxidative stress plays a major role in the secondary injury of the spinal cord tissue due to the high lipid content of nervous tissue. In the present study, coaxial nanofibers were loaded with the natural antioxidant pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) and used as an implantable drug-delivery system and a scaffold post-SCI. The obtained data show that the concentration of NO and the activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) were significantly (P < 0.05) increased in the spinal cord injury (SCI) group. These levels were significantly decreased following treatment with nanofibers/PQQ. Implantation of nanofibers/PQQ resulted in a significant (P < 0.05) drop in the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to the SCI group. The application of nanofibers loaded with PQQ after SCI caused a significant (P < 0.05) elevation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity in the spinal cord tissue. The present work shows the protective role of coaxial nanofibers loaded with PQQ against oxidative stress in spinal cord injury. The reversal of oxidative stress with PQQ can lead to better outcomes following spinal cord injury.

Interference of surface plasmons has been widely utilized in optical metrology for applications such as high-precision sensing. In this paper, we introduce a surface plasmon interferometer with the potential to be arranged in arrays for parallel multiplexing applications. The interferometer features two grating couplers that excite surface plasmon polariton (SPP) waves traveling along a gold-air interface before converging at a gold nanoslit where they interfere. A key innovation lies in the ability to tune the interference pattern by altering the geometrical properties of the gold nanoslit such that one, two or more resonance modes are supported in the nanoslit. Our experimental results validate the approach of our design and modelling process, demonstrating the potential to fine-tune geometrical parameters such as grating coupler pitch, depth, duty cycle, and nanoslit dimensions to alter the transmitted radiation pattern and the transmittance. We demonstrate the ability of a grating coupler to induce focusing of SPP waves to an arbitrary location on chip by illuminating with a converging Gaussian beam. Additionally, we observed far-field interference patterns linked to the multimodal operation of the nanoslit.

Carbon-carbon (C/C) composites are attractive materials for high-speed flights and terrestrial atmospheric reentry applications due to their insulating thermal properties, thermal resistance, and high strength-to-weight ratio. It is important to understand the evolving structure-property correlations in these materials during pyrolysis, but the extreme laboratory conditions required to produce C/C composites make it difficult to quantify the properties in situ. This work presents an atomistic modeling methodology to pyrolyze a crosslinked phenolic resin network and track the evolving thermomechanical properties of the skeletal matrix during simulated pyrolysis. First, the crosslinked resin is pyrolyzed and the resulting char yield and mass density are verified to match experimental values, establishing the model's powerful predictive capabilities. Young's modulus, yield stress, Poisson's ratio, and thermal conductivity are calculated for the polymerized structure, intermediate pyrolyzed structures, and fully pyrolyzed structure to reveal structure-property correlations, and the evolution of properties are linked to observed structural features. It is determined that reduction in fractional free volume and densification of the resin during pyrolysis contribute significantly to the increase in thermomechanical properties of the skeletal phenolic matrix. A complex interplay of the formation of six-membered carbon rings at the expense of five and seven-membered carbon rings is revealed to affect thermal conductivity. Increased anisotropy was observed in the latter stages of pyrolysis due to the development of aligned aromatic structures. Experimentally validated predictive atomistic models are a key first step to multiscale process modeling of C/C composites to optimize next-generation materials.

Water-dispersible core/shell CuInZnSe/ZnS (CIZSe/ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) were efficiently synthesized under microwave irradiation using N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and sodium citrate as capping agents. The photoluminescence (PL) emission of CIZSe/ZnS QDs can be tuned from 593 to 733 nm with varying the Zn : Cu molar ratio in the CIZSe core. CIZSe/ZnS QDs prepared with a Zn : Cu ratio of 0.5 exhibit the highest PL quantum yield (54%) and the longest PL lifetime (515 ns) originating from the recombination of donor-acceptor pairs. The potential of CIZSe/ZnS QDs as photoabsorbers in QD-sensitized solar cells was also evaluated. An adequate type-II band alignment is observed between TiO₂ and CIZSe/ZnS QDs, indicating that photogenerated electrons in CIZSe/ZnS QDs could efficiently be injected into TiO₂.

Radiation therapy is a common cancer treatment but often damages surrounding healthy tissues, leading to unwanted side effects. Despite technological advancements aimed at improving targeting, minimizing exposure to normal cells remains a major challenge. High-Z nanoparticles, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), are being explored as nano-radiosensitizers to enhance cancer treatment through physical, biological, and chemical mechanisms. This study focuses on evaluating the chemical and biological radiosensitizing effects of AuNPs exposed to ionizing radiation (0-50 Gy), specifically their production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their impact on cancer cells. ROS generated by AuNPs of varying sizes and coatings were quantified using fluorescence probes for hydroxyl radicals (HO·) and singlet oxygen (¹O₂). The radiosensitizing effects on MDA-MB-231 cancer cells were assessed via clonogenic assays. Our results show a clear dependence of ROS production on AuNP size. Interestingly, PEG-capped AuNPs did not significantly enhance HO· production but greatly increased ¹O₂ production, suggesting that multiple reactive species contribute to the radiosensitization process. Clonogenic assays confirmed that PEG-capped AuNPs produced stronger radiosensitizing effects than citrate-capped AuNPs, with smaller AuNPs providing more pronounced biological effects. This study underscores the importance of conducting both chemical and biological evaluations to fully understand the radiosensitization efficacy of AuNPs.

We have employed a triazine-based conjugated polymer network (CPN) for the selective detection of hypochlorite in a semi-aqueous environment. CPNs have been widely employed in gas capture, separation, and adsorption, but the fluorescent properties of CPNs possessing extensive π-conjugated systems tend to be unexplored. Herein, we report the photophysical properties of the CPN and investigate its sensing capability towards hypochlorite. Spectroscopic investigations reveal that the CPN forms π-stacked aggregates in aqueous medium, while loose aggregates were observed to be formed in hydrophobic solvents. The fluorogenic CPN demonstrates remarkable selectivity via fluorescence quenching and a blueshift response towards hypochlorite in a semi-aqueous medium, accompanied by a color change under UV light. Such a turn-off fluorescence response, along with the blue shift upon hypochlorite sensing, was attributed to the oxidation of the sulfur atom of the thiophene functionality of the CPN, consequently resulting in suppression of Intramolecular Charge Transfer (ICT) in the corresponding oxidized adduct. The fluorescence intensity of the CPN exhibits a linear response to hypochlorite concentration, achieving a low detection limit of 1.2 nM. Furthermore, the practical applicability was demonstrated by the detection of hypochlorite in water samples and fluorescent test-paper strips. Additionally, the present system is utilized for bio-imaging of endogenous hypochlorite in RAW 264.7 cells.

Hybrid nanoscintillators, which feature a heavy inorganic nanoparticle conjugated with an organic emitter, represent a promising avenue for advancements in diverse fields, including high-energy physics, homeland security, and biomedicine. Many research studies have shown the suitability of hybrid nanoscintillators for radiation oncology, showing potential to improve therapeutic results compared to traditional protocols. In this work, we studied SiO₂/ZnO nanoparticles functionalized with porphyrin as a photosensitizer, capable of producing cancer cytotoxic reactive oxygen species for possible use in radio-oncological therapeutics. Radioluminescence measurements under increasing energy of the ionizing radiation beam up to 10 keV show sensitization of porphyrin moieties on SiO₂/ZnO. This can be attributed to an increase in energy deposition promoted by the ZnO nanoparticles, which have a higher density and atomic number. This assumption was confirmed by computational simulations of energy deposition after the first interaction of ionizing radiation with SiO₂, ZnO, and air. Indeed, Monte Carlo simulations evidence that, despite a decrease in the absolute number of X-rays interacting within the system while increasing the energy of the beam, at 10 keV, the presence of ZnO is dominant to enhance energy deposition. Hence, these experimental and computational studies evidence the importance of each hybrid nanosystem component in the scintillation process. This work shows how an appropriate choice of constituents, in terms of physicochemical properties and architecture, can favour energy deposition mechanisms under X-ray irradiation and thus can boost the hybrid nanosystems' performance for diverse biomedical scintillation-based applications.

In this study, we show that on-chip grown, vertically aligned MoS₂ films that are decorated with Ni(OH)₂ catalyst are suitable materials to be applied as working electrodes in electrochemical sensing. The constructed sensors display a highly repeatable response to dopamine, used as a model analyte, in a large dynamic range from 1 μM to 1 mM with a theoretical detection limit of 0.1 μM. In addition, to facilitate practical implementation of the sensor chips, we also demonstrate a low power wireless cyber-physical system that we designed and accommodated for cyclic voltammetry measurements. The developed cost-effective and portable instrument enables straightforward data acquisition, transfer and visualization through an Android mobile interface, and has an accuracy comparable to reference analysis of our sensors using a commercial table-top laboratory potentiostat.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of carbohydrates has been reported as a sustainable and green technique to produce carbonaceous micro- and nano-materials. These materials have been developed for several applications, including catalysis, separation science, metal ion adsorption and nanomedicine. Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) obtained through HTC are particularly interesting for the latter application since they exhibit photothermal properties when irradiated with near-infrared (NIR) light, act as an antioxidant by scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), and present good colloidal stability and biocompatibility. However, due to the highly disordered structure, there is still a poor understanding of the mechanism of synthesis of CNPs. Consequently, the modulation of the CNP properties by controlling the synthetic parameters is still a challenge. In this work, a novel and simplified HTC synthetic strategy to obtain non-aggregated glucose derived CNPs in the 15-150 nm size range with precise control of the diameter is presented, together with an advance in the understanding of the reaction mechanism behind the synthesis. Modifications of the synthetic parameters and a post-synthesis hydrothermal process were applied to increase the bulk order of CNPs, resulting in an increase of the photothermal and ROS scavenging activities, without affecting the morphological and colloidal properties of the nanomaterial.