New two in one magnetic fluorescent nanocomposites

Magnetite nanoparticles have been coated by a porphyrin derivative to produce new magnetic materials with fluorescent properties. The magnetic nanoparticles were prepared using two different methods, one based on sol-gel techniques and ultrasonic processing, and the other via a controlled chemical co-precipitation. Different types of porphyrin functionalised magnetic nanoparticles have been prepared and have been characterised by electron microscopy (TEM and SEM), XRD, FTIR, Raman, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Microscopy results showed the formation of core-shell nanostructures, with IR and photoluminescence spectroscopy results confirming the presence of porphyrin in the shell

Preparation and biological investigation of luminescent water soluble CdTe nanoparticles

In this study CdTe quantum dots have been successfully prepared in aqueous medium using several different thiol stabilizers. The resulting nanocrystals were purified and the photoluminescence efficiency was subsequently enhanced through post preparative procedures such as photochemical etching and ageing. An optical study was carried out on the resulting CdTe nanocrystals as proof as their improvement. Preliminary tests of the thiol stabilised QDs as potential biolabels have been performed. It has been shown that L-cysteine stabilised QDs localising to the outer cell membrane in living cells. TGA stabilised CdTe QDs can potentially serve as live cell imaging tools as they exhibit strong luminescence and excellent photostability. In addition, the ability of TGA stabilised CdTe QDs to traverse the cell membrane of macrophages is a formidable quality that may potentially be harnessed for imaging and therapeutics. Modulating the delivery of QDs to subcellular locations in living cells opens a myriad of potential applications ranging from drug delivery to examination of intracellular processes

Influence of water-soluble nonionic polymers adsorption on colloidal properties of nanosilica dispersions

The relationships between the adsorption of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) of various molecular weights onto nanosilica and the stability and rheological properties of the aqueous dispersions were analyzed. The adsorption isotherms for the polymers correspond to the Langmuir-type isotherms. The adsorption maximum slightly increases with increasing molecular weight of the polymers. The sedimentation and aggregative stability of the silica dispersion decreased at a low amount of an adsorbed polymer (less than a monolayer). At this polymer content, a significant increase in the viscosity of dispersions is observed due to the formation of polymeric bridges between silica nanoparticles from neighboring aggregates of them. If the amount of adsorbed polymer exceeds the monolayer then the stabilizing effect is observed due to the steric factor preventing the bridge formation and the viscosity of dispersion decreases slightly compared with systems with a low polymer content

Adsorption of polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyoxyethylene by pure and mixed silicon, aluminium and titanium oxides

Adsorption of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyoxyethylene (POE) from the aqueous solutions onto surfaces of individual and mixed silicon, titanium and aluminium oxides was studied. It was found that the values of polymer adsorption depend on composition of oxides. It was shown with IR spectroscopy that the surface of the oxides studied is fully accessible to interaction with PVP and POE

An investigation of co-fired varistor-ferrite materials

The purpose of this work was to co-fire crack-free varistor-ferrite ceramic multilayers fabricated via a dry pressing route. Multilayers were sintered using a standard industrial grade varistor sintering regime. Sinter shrinkages of both varistor and ferrite materials were measured using dilatometry and showed that the varistor shrunk significantly more than the ferrite material. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that no significant phase changes occurred in the materials under investigation as a result of the sintering process. Scanning electron microscopy observations of the dry-pressed co-fired varistor-ferrite revealed vertical cracking in the ferrite due to thermal expansion mismatch between the materials. By pressing a mixed composition interlayer in the ratio 50:50, between the varistor and ferrite materials, a crack-free multilayer structure could be obtained. Energy dispersive X-ray analysis of the co-fired ferrite and varistor confirmed diffusion of Fe and Ni components from the ferrite into the varistor material. The degree of diffusion was reduced by using 50:50 ratio mixed composition interlayers

Magnetically driven preparation of 1-D nano-necklaces capable of MRI relaxation enhancement

We report a novel magnetically-facilitated approach to produce 1-D ‘nano-necklace’ arrays composed of 0-D magnetic nanoparticles, which are assembled and coated with an oxide layer to produce semiflexible core@shell type structures. These ‘nano-necklaces’ demonstrate good MRI relaxation properties despite their coating and permanent alignment, with low field enhancement due to structural and magnetocrystalline anisotropy

In-situ optical characterisation of the spatial dynamics of liquid crystalline nanocomposites

Liquid crystalline nanocomposites are a novel class of hybrid fluid materials, which are currently attracting significant interest from the photonics community. Such fluid nano-composites are based on low-dimensional nanoparticles (carbon nanotubes, graphene, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), metal nanoparticles etc.) dispersed in a fluidic host material. Liquid crystalline properties can either be provided by using a liquid crystal host fluid, or, through the solvent-induced self-assembly of particles. They possess a unique capability to interact with light, utilising many possibilities in plasmonics and quantum optics while they can also be integrated on Si chip by means of microfluidic technology. Integration of the nanocomposites on chip allows for dynamic control of the dispersed particle ordering through the application of various external stimuli. However, this dynamic control requires a suitable characterisation technique to fully understand the time evolution of metastructure formation. Integrated nanocomposites are characterised by the particle concentration at different points on chip, while the individual particles are defined by their sizes, xyz positions and orientation relative to the chip architecture. Here, we present a method by which all the required information for complete characterisation of the system can be obtained using a single spectroscopic technique- Raman spectroscopy- and how changes in the system can then be monitored during device operation. Liquid crystalline nanocomposites have been synthesised based on two-dimensional (2D) materials including graphene oxide (GO) and TMDCs dispersed in either commercially available liquid crystals or various organic solvents. We present both numerical analysis of the theoretical practicability of the use of Raman spectroscopy to extrapolate the desired nanocomposite properties and the experimental confirmation of the achievability of these measurements for the full range of synthesised nanocomposites