Micro Scalable Graphene Oxide Productions Using Controlled Parameters in Bench Reactor

The detailed study of graphene oxide (GO) synthesis by changing the graphite/oxidizing reagents mass ratios (mG/mROxi), provided GO nanosheets production with good yield, structural quality, and process savings. Three initial samples containing different amounts of graphite (3.0 g, 4.5 g, and 6.0 g) were produced using a bench reactor under strictly controlled conditions to guarantee the process reproducibility. The produced samples were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XDR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetry (TGA) techniques. The results showed that the major GO product comprised of nanosheets containing between 1–5 layers, with lateral size up to 1.8 µm. Therefore, it was possible to produce different batches of graphene oxide with desirable physicochemical characteristics, keeping the amount of oxidizing reagent unchanged. The use of different proportions (mG/mROxi) is an important strategy that provides to produce GO nanostructures with high structural quality and scale-up, which can be well adapted in medium-sized bench reactor

Nanostructured system based on hydroxyapatite and curcumin: A promising candidate for osteosarcoma therapy:A promising candidate for osteosarcoma therapy

Osteosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer. Despite therapeutic progress, survival rates for metastatic cases or that do not respond well to chemotherapy remain in the 30% range. In this sense, the use of nanotechnology to develop targeted and more effective therapies is a promising tool in the fight against cancer. Nanostructured hydroxyapatite, due to its biocompatibility and the wide possibility of functionalization, is an interesting material to design nanoplatforms for targeted drug delivery. These platforms have the potential to enable the use of natural substances in the fight against cancer, such as curcumin. Curcumin is a polyphenol with promising properties in treating various types of cancer, including osteosarcoma. In this work, hydroxyapatite (n-HA) nanorods synthesized by the hydrothermal method were investigated as a carrier for curcumin. For this, first-principle calculations based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT) were performed, in which the modification of curcumin (CM) with the coupling agent (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) was theoretically evaluated. Curcumin was incorporated in n-HA and the drug loading stability was evaluated by leaching test. Samples were characterized by a multi-techniques approach, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (FRX), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), zeta potential analysis (ζ), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that n-HAs with a 90 nm average size were obtained and successful incorporation of curcumin in the nanostructure was achieved. Cell viability and the number of osteosarcoma cells were decreased by CMAP-HA treatment. Furthermore, the stability test suggests that hydroxyapatite nanoparticles present great potential for the transportation of curcumin in the bloodstream, crediting this system for biological performance evaluations aiming at the treatment of osteosarcomas. Keywords: nanostructures, curcumin, hydroxyapatite, osteosarcoma

Structure and magnetic properties of granular NiZn-ferrite - SiO2

Granular systems composed by nanostructured magnetic materials embedded in a non-magnetic matrix present unique physical properties that depend crucially on their nanostructure. In this work, we have studied the structural and magnetic properties of NiZn-ferrite nanoparticles embedded in SiO2, a granular system synthesized by sol-gel processing. Samples with ferrite volumetric fraction x ranging from 6% to 78% were prepared, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. Our results show the formation of pure stoichiometric NiZn-ferrite in the SiO2 matrix for x < 34%. Above these fraction, our samples presented also small amounts of Fe2O3. Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed the superparamagnetic behaviour of the ferrimagnetic NiZn-ferrite nanoparticles. The combination of different ferrite concentration and heat treatments allowed the obtaintion of samples with saturation magnetization between 1.3 and 68 emu/g and coercivity ranging from 0 to 123 Oe, value which is two orders of magnitude higher than the coercivity of bulk NiZn-ferrite

Structure and magnetic properties of granular NiZn-ferrite - SiO2

Granular systems composed by nanostructured magnetic materials embedded in a non-magnetic matrix present unique physical properties that depend crucially on their nanostructure. In this work, we have studied the structural and magnetic properties of NiZn-ferrite nanoparticles embedded in SiO2, a granular system synthesized by sol-gel processing. Samples with ferrite volumetric fraction x ranging from 6% to 78% were prepared, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. Our results show the formation of pure stoichiometric NiZn-ferrite in the SiO2 matrix for x < 34%. Above these fraction, our samples presented also small amounts of Fe2O3. Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed the superparamagnetic behaviour of the ferrimagnetic NiZn-ferrite nanoparticles. The combination of different ferrite concentration and heat treatments allowed the obtaintion of samples with saturation magnetization between 1.3 and 68 emu/g and coercivity ranging from 0 to 123 Oe, value which is two orders of magnitude higher than the coercivity of bulk NiZn-ferrite.235238Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Measurement of iron self-diffusion in hematite single crystals by sims and comparison of cation self-diffusion in corundum-structure oxides.

Iron bulk self-diffusion coefficients were measured in Fe2O3 single crystals using an original methodology based on the utilization of 57Fe stable isotope as iron tracer, and depth profiling by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). The iron self-diffusion coefficients were measured along and perpendicular to c-axis direction, between 900 and 1100o C, in oxygen atmosphere. Along caxis they can be described by D//c (cm2/s)= 5.2x106 exp [-510 (kJ/mol)/RT], and are close to reliable data available in the literature, obtained by means of radioactive techniques. Perpendicular to c-axis, D⊥c (cm2/s)= 83 exp [-430 (kJ/mol)/RT], and the coefficients are smaller than coefficients along caxis. The results are compared with previously obtained results of cation bulk self-diffusion in Cr2O3 and in Al2O3 single crystals

Ion diffusion study in the oxide layers due to oxidation of AISI 439 ferritic stainless steel.

Chromium diffusion coefficients were determined in thermally grown chromia layers on the AISI 439 ferritic stainless steel oxidized at 750, 800, 850 and 900 C in synthetic air. The stable isotope 54Cr was used as chromium tracer and the diffusion profiles were established by SIMS analysis. The chromium ion bulk diffusion coefficients evaluated numerically from experimentation were around five orders of magnitude smaller than the chromium ion diffusion coefficients at grainboundary regions. The values of the chromium ion diffusivities in chromia grown on the AISI steel were lower than the corresponding oxygen ion diffusivities obtained in a previous study. Comparison of experimental and calculated parabolic oxidation constants, for the oxidation of the AISI 439 steel, showed that the chromia scale growth mechanism is controlled not only by inward oxygen ion diffusion from atmosphere, but also by outward chromium diffusion from the metallic substrate. However, the role of the oxygen ion diffusion appears to be more important than that of the chromium ion diffusion

About the role of chromium and oxygen ion diffusion on the growth mechanism of oxidation films of the AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel.

To study the role of ion diffusion on the oxidation process of the AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel, chromium diffusion coefficients were determined in oxide films grown on this steel at 750, 800 and 850 C, in air. The isotope 54Cr was used as a chromium tracer and the diffusion profiles were established by SIMS. The bulk diffusion coefficients are five orders of magnitude smaller than the grain boundary diffusion coefficients. It was found that the values of the chromium diffusivities are lower than the corresponding oxygen diffusivities obtained in previous work. Parabolic oxidation constants calculated as a function of the chrome and oxygen diffusivities, using Wagner0 s theory, are close to those determined experimentally, which shows that the growth rate of chromia is controlled by ion diffusion, but inward oxygen diffusion plays the main role on the growth kinetics of chromia formed by the oxidation of the AISI 304 steel

Modifying internal organization and surface morphology of siRNA lipoplexes by sodium alginate addition for efficient siRNA delivery

International audienceVectorized small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are widely used to induce specific mRNA degradation in the intracellular compartment of eukaryotic cells. Recently, we developed efficient cationic lipid-based siRNA vectors (siRNA lipoplexes or siLex) containing sodium alginate (Nalg-siLex) with superior efficiency and stability properties than siLex. In this study, we assessed the physicochemical and some biological properties of Nalg-siLex compared to siLex. While no significant addition of sodium alginate modified the particle morphology, producing smoother and heterogeneous particles characterized by transmission electron microscopy. We also noted that Nalg-siLex have surface differences observed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These differences could arise from an internal reorganization of components induced by the addition of sodium alginate, that is indicated by Small-Angle X-ray Scattering results. Moreover, Nalg-siLex did not trigger significant hepatotoxicity nor inflammatory cytokine secretion compared to siLex. Taken together these results suggest that sodium alginate played a key role by structuring and reinforcing siRNA lipoplexes, leading to more stable and efficient delivery vector

Chitosan grafted into mesoporous silica nanoparticles as benznidazol carrier for Chagas diseases treatment.

The use of chitosan functionalized silica for benznidazole delivery in the treatment of neglected disease such as Chagas disease is one of the forms not yet explored, but with great potential for this therapy, as little is known about nanoformulations for the treatment of Chagas disease. In this work, we used chitosan-succinate covalently attached to the surface pore of MSNs to act as anchor for benznidazole as a delivery system. The samples were characterized structurally and chemically with multiple techniques. The applicability of functionalized MSNs as platforms for benznidazole delivery into T. cruzi parasites was assessed. The results demonstrate that the proposed system is a potential promising nanoplatform for drug and gene delivery targeting neglected diseases such as Chagas disease