Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology最新文献

This perspective article explores the convergence of advanced digital technologies, including high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence, machine learning, and sophisticated data management workflows. The primary objective is to enhance the accessibility of multiscale simulations and their integration with other computational techniques, thereby advancing the field of nanomaterials technologies. The proposed approach relies on key strategies and digital technologies employed to achieve efficient and innovative materials discovery, emphasizing a fully digital, data-centric methodology. The integration of methodologies rooted in knowledge and structured information management serves as a foundational element, establishing a framework for representing materials-related information and ensuring interoperability across a diverse range of tools. The paper explores the distinctive features of digital and data-centric approaches and technologies for materials development. It highlights the role of digital twins in research, particularly in the realm of nanomaterials development and examines the impact of knowledge engineering in establishing data and information standards to facilitate interoperability. Furthermore, the paper explores the role of deployment technologies in managing HPC infrastructures. It also addresses the pairing of these technologies with user-friendly development tools to support the adoption of digital methodologies in advanced research.

Phytochemicals, naturally occurring compounds in plants, possess a wide range of therapeutic properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial activities. However, their clinical application is often hindered by poor water solubility, low bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and instability under physiological conditions. Polymer lipid hybrid nanoparticles (PLHNPs) have emerged as a novel delivery system that combines the advantages of both polymeric and lipid-based nanoparticles to overcome these challenges. This review explores the potential of PLHNPs to enhance the delivery and efficacy of phytochemicals for biomedical applications. We discuss the obstacles in the conventional delivery of phytochemicals, the fundamental architecture of PLHNPs, and the types of PLHNPs, highlighting their ability to improve encapsulation efficiency, stability, and controlled release of the encapsulated phytochemicals. In addition, the surface modification strategies to improve overall therapeutic efficacy by site-specific delivery of encapsulated phytochemicals are also discussed. Furthermore, we extensively discuss the preclinical studies on phytochemical encapsulated PLHNPs for the management of different diseases. Additionally, we explore the challenges ahead and prospects of PLHNPs regarding their widespread use in clinical settings. Overall, PLHNPs hold strong potential for the effective delivery of phytochemicals for biomedical applications. As per the findings from pre-clinical studies, this may offer a promising strategy for managing various diseases.

By employing a model of nanomaterials with polymorphic phase transitions and using a thermodynamic approach to describe the effects of vacancy saturation, irradiation dose, powder dispersion, and surface energies, we demonstrate the possibility of radiation-induced phase transitions and the zones of radiation stability for nanoparticles. We utilize nanoparticles exhibiting transitions from the body-centered cubic α phase to the face-centered cubic β phase, and the reverse transition from β phase to α phase, as a model system for first-order phase transformations. We incorporate nucleation through the appearance and growth of the nucleus of a new phase, resulting in the formation of a two-phase α+β system, and we highlight the importance of accounting for nucleation. Our model study reveals that very small α-phase particles are unstable (while very small β-phase particles are stable) because of surface effects. There is an intermediate zone of sizes and parameters where radiation-induced defects become important so that the α-phase particle is unstable without irradiation but becomes stable under irradiation. For large sizes and low temperatures, the α→β transformation cannot occur regardless of irradiation because of bulk driving forces; initially, α-phase particles are stable, whereas the β-phase particles are unstable. In some cases, nucleation requires a large additional energy change, resulting in a low probability of phase change fluctuations. This behavior is confirmed by calculations for iron particles under irradiation. Substances characterized by high vacancy migration energy, small diffusion coefficients of defects, and low temperatures of first-order phase transitions can serve as suitable candidates for radiation-induced phase transitions in nanosystems. Ceramic nanomaterials, which possess high vacancy migration energy, will have their behavior significantly influenced by radiation doses. In contrast, most metals exhibit small vacancy migration energy and demonstrate better resistance to irradiation, making them recommended candidates for nuclear materials.

High mechanical strength, excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, and tunable properties make two-dimensional (2D) materials attractive for various applications. However, the metallic nature of these materials restricts their applications in specific domains. Strain engineering is a versatile technique to tailor the distribution of energy levels, including bandgap opening between the energy bands. ψ-Graphene is a newly predicted 2D nanosheet of carbon atoms arranged in 5,6,7-membered rings. The half and fully hydrogenated (hydrogen-functionalized) forms of ψ-graphene are called ψ-graphone and ψ-graphane. Like ψ-graphene, ψ-graphone has a zero bandgap, but ψ-graphane is a wide-bandgap semiconductor. In this study, we have applied in-plane and out-of-plane biaxial strain on pristine and hydrogenated ψ-graphene. We have obtained a bandgap opening (200 meV) in ψ-graphene at 14% in-plane strain, while ψ-graphone loses its zero-bandgap nature at very low values of applied strain (both +1% and -1%). In contrast, fully hydrogenated ψ-graphene remains unchanged under the influence of mechanical strain, preserving its initial characteristic of having a direct bandgap. This behavior offers opportunities for these materials in various vital applications in photodetectors, solar cells, LEDs, pressure and strain sensors, energy storage, and quantum computing. The mechanical strain tolerance of pristine and fully hydrogenated ψ-graphene is observed to be -17% to +17%, while for ψ-graphone, it lies within the strain span of -16% to +16%.

Ion beam-induced deposition (IBID) using Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂ as precursors has been studied with ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) surface science techniques to provide insights into the elementary reaction steps involved in deposition, complemented by analysis of deposits formed under steady-state conditions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry data from monolayer thick films of Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂ exposed to 3 keV Ar⁺, He⁺, and H₂ ⁺ ions indicate that deposition is initiated by the desorption of both CO ligands, a process ascribed to momentum transfer from the incident ion to adsorbed precursor molecules. This precursor decomposition step is accompanied by a decrease in the oxidation state of the Pt(II) atoms and, in IBID, represents the elementary reaction step that converts the molecular precursor into an involatile PtX₂ species. Upon further ion irradiation these PtCl₂ or PtBr₂ species experience ion-induced sputtering. The difference between halogen and Pt sputter rates leads to a critical ion dose at which only Pt remains in the film. A comparison of the different ion/precursor combinations studied revealed that this sequence of elementary reaction steps is invariant, although the rates of CO desorption and subsequent physical sputtering were greatest for the heaviest (Ar⁺) ions. The ability of IBID to produce pure Pt films was confirmed by AES and XPS analysis of thin film deposits created by Ar⁺/Pt(CO)₂Cl₂, demonstrating the ability of data acquired from fundamental UHV surface science studies to provide insights that can be used to better understand the interactions between ions and precursors during IBID from inorganic precursors.

Lithium niobate (LN) stands out as a versatile nonlinear optoelectronic material which can be directly applied in tunable modulators, filters, parametric amplifiers, and photonic integrated circuits. Recently, LN photonic crystals have garnered attention as a compelling candidate for incorporation into photonic integrated circuits, showcasing their potential in advancing the field. Photonic crystals possess a widely acknowledged capability to manipulate the transmission of light modes, similar to how nanostructures have been utilized to regulate electron-related phenomena. Here we study the optical performance of a one-dimensional stacked photonic crystal based on LN and TiO₂/SiO₂. We studied the quarter wavelength multi-layered stack using electromagnetic simulation. The forbidden-frequency region indifferent from the bulk material has been observed around 1.55 µm. A high refractive index and non-linear optical and electro-optical properties enable LN to be used for more efficient manipulation of light. The highly reflective quarternary stack can play an important role in diverse fields such as photonics, optomechanics, optoelectronics, signal processing, and quantum technologies, spanning the spectrum from photon generation (including single-photon sources and lasers) to their manipulation (encompassing waveguiding, beam splitting, filters, and spin-photon entanglement), and detection (involving single-photon detectors).

Central nervous system diseases negatively affect patients and society. Providing successful noninvasive treatments for these diseases is challenging because of the presence of the blood-brain barrier. While protecting the brain's homeostasis, the barrier limits the passage of almost all large-molecule drugs and most small-molecule drugs. A noninvasive method, nose-to-brain delivery (N2B delivery) has been proposed to overcome this challenge. By exploiting the direct anatomical interaction between the nose and the brain, the drugs can reach the target, the brain. Moreover, the drugs can be encapsulated into various drug delivery systems to enhance physicochemical characteristics and targeting success. Many preclinical data show that this strategy can effectively deliver biopharmaceuticals to the brain. Therefore, this review focuses on N2B delivery while giving examples of different drug delivery systems suitable for the applications. In addition, we emphasize the importance of the effective delivery of monoclonal antibodies and RNA and stress the recent literature tackling this challenge. While giving examples of nanotechnological approaches for the effective delivery of small or large molecules from the current literature, we highlight the preclinical studies and their results to prove the strategies' success and limitations.

This work presents a simple chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method to grow ZnO nanostructures. By annealing Zn powder under atmospheric pressure conditions, we collected nanocrystals with various morphologies, including rods, pencils, sheets, combs, tetrapods, and multilegs. Raman scattering study reveals that the samples are monophasic with a hexagonal structure, and fall into the P6₃ mc space group. Depending on the morphology and crystal quality, their photoluminescence spectra have only a strong UV emission associated with the exciton radiative recombination, or both UV and defect-related visible emissions with their relative intensity ratio varying with the excitation power density. The obtained results prove that ZnO exhibits many novel nanostructures that can foster the development of next-generation optoelectronic nanodevices and new applications in biological and biomedical fields.

One biomimetic approach to surface passivation involves a series of surface coatings based on the slick surfaces of carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes), termed slippery liquid-infused porous surfaces (SLIPS). This study introduces a simplified method to produce SLIPS using a polydopamine (PDA) anchor layer, inspired by mussel adhesion. SLIPS layers were formed on cyclic olefin copolymer, silicon, and stainless steel substrates, by first growing a PDA film on each substrate. This was followed by a hydrophobic liquid anchor layer created by functionalizing the PDA film with a fluorinated thiol. Finally, perfluorodecalin was applied to the surface immediately prior to use. These biomimetic surface functionalization steps were confirmed by several complimentary surface analysis techniques. The wettability of each surface was probed with water contact angle measurements, while the chemical composition of the layer was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Finally, ordering of specific chemical groups within our PDA SLIPS layer was determined via sum frequency generation spectroscopy. The hemocompatibility of our new PDA-based SLIPS coating was then evaluated by tracking FXII activation, fibrin generation time, clot morphology, and platelet adhesion to the surface. This hemocompatibility work suggests that PDA SLIPS coatings slow or prevent clotting, but the observation of both FXII activation and the presence of adherent and activated platelets at the PDA SLIPS samples imply that this formulation of a SLIPS coating is not completely omniphobic.

In this study, we aimed to synthesize new carbon dot structures (CDs) in a single step by using the plant Rheum Ribes for the first time and to contribute to the studies in the field of diode fabrication by using the new CDs. The CDs were obtained by hydrothermal synthesis, which is commonly used in the literature. TEM and zeta potential measurements were used to determine morphology and sizes of the CDs, and XRD, XPS, and FTIR and micro-Raman spectroscopy were used for structural characterization. Optical characterization of the CDs was done by absorption and steady-state fluorescence measurements. In the second part of the study, CDs were dripped onto silicon substrates, and a CDs thin film was formed by evaporation. A diode structure was obtained by evaporating gold with the shadow mask technique on the CDs film, and the current-voltage characteristics of this diode were examined. The synthesized CDs are spherical with an average size of 5.5 nm, have a negative surface charge and contain 73.3 atom % C, 24.0 atom % O, and 2.7 atom % N. The CDs exhibit fluorescence at approximately 394 nm. The layer thickness and bandgap energy of the prepared CDs film were calculated as 566 nm and 5.25 eV, respectively. The ideality factor and the measured barrier height (Φ_b) of the CDs-based Schottky diode were calculated as 9.1 and 0.364 eV, respectively. The CDs were used as semiconductor material in a Schottky diode, and the diode exhibited rectification behavior. The results obtained from this study showed that CDs can be applied in the field of electronics, apart from sensor studies, which are common application areas.