Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis: Enhanced Detection of Transparent Materials

This study proposes a novel and simple in-house design of a nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) device for the online characterization of nanoparticles in an aqueous solution. The particle size distribution of two sets of model nanoparticles, for example, transparent (SiO₂) and opaque (TiO₂) materials with respect to water as a dispersion medium could be successfully analyzed. Experiments are conducted using two different laser wavelengths of 632.8 (red) and 510 nm (green) and a range of concentrations. The accuracy of the green laser is larger compared to the red laser for all particle concentrations used. The measured average diameter using the presented in-house NTA setup is in the acceptable range compared to the electron microscopy data. The average diameter of the transparent (SiO₂) and opaque (TiO₂) samples is calculated as 36.29 and 27.26 nm using NTA, 36.44 and 27.8 nm analyzing field emission scanning electron microscopy images, and 23.97 and 19.7 nm analyzing transmission electron microscopy images. In the new viewing sample holder, nanoparticles undergo mere Brownian motion with no bulk drift velocity. The effect of solid concentration and wavelength of the laser light on the performance of the NTA sensor is investigated, and the optimal concentration range for model particles is reported.     

The Competitive Dynamic Binding of Some Blood Proteins Adsorbed on Gold Nanoparticles

Nanoparticle (NP) surfaces are modified immediately by the adsorption of proteins when injected into human blood, leading to the formation of a protein corona. The protein‐coated NPs may be recognized by living cells. Furthermore, the adsorption of serum proteins is a continuous competitive dynamic process that is the key to exploring the bioapplication and biosafety of NPs. In this study, the competitive dynamic adsorption of some serum proteins on gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is investigated by fluorescence emission, dynamic light scattering, and sodium dodecyl sulfate‐polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Serum proteins with different AuNPs binding affinities are used to address the competitive dynamic process of protein‐AuNP interactions in vitro. The results show that more abundant serum proteins, such as human serum albumin, adsorb on AuNPs first, and then the higher binding affinity and lower concentration serum proteins, such as fibrinogen (FIB), replace the abundant and lower binding affinity serum proteins. However, the lower binding affinity serum proteins, such as hemoglobin, do not replace the higher binding affinity proteins from the protein‐AuNP conjugates. During the dynamic exchange process, the larger the binding affinities difference between two proteins, the faster the exchange rate. This dynamic exchange process usually takes longer in inner protein‐AuNP conjugates (hard corona) than the external surface of protein‐AuNP conjugates (soft corona).     

Hematite/Polystyrene Raspberry-Like Microcomposites as Stable Support for Silver Nanoparticle Immobilization

Among the methods utilized for the preparation of raspberry-like microcomposites, due to its simplicity and universality, the electrostatically-driven deposition of nanoparticles at the surface of microparticles is especially attractive. This process, leading to the formation of a single nanoparticle monolayer, is widely reported. On the other hand, no data concerning the electrostatically-driven formation of nanoparticle bilayers at the surface of microparticles are reported. To fill this gap, the detailed investigation of the formation of silver/hematite nanoparticle bilayers at the surface of polystyrene microparticles is reported. First, the hematite/polystyrene raspberry-like microcomposites are obtained by immobilization of hematite nanoparticles under an electrostatically-driven process. The stability of hematite/polystyrene microcomposites at elevated temperatures up to 323 K is monitored using microelectrophoresis. No significant changes in the hematite nanoparticle layer coverage are observed after prolonged time of incubation. This proves the irreversible character of nanoparticle immobilization. Next, the hematite/polystyrene microcomposites are utilized as the interfaces for immobilization of negatively charged silver nanoparticles. This process is quantitatively described using electrokinetic measurements. The changes in the hydrodynamic diameter of microcomposites are also determined. Finally, the validity of the electrokinetic model used in this work for predicting the zeta potential of the silver/hematite/polystyrene microcomposites is confirmed.     

Analysis of Particle Size Distribution by Particle Tracking

Particle tracking is performed using a combination of dark field or fluorescence video microscopy with automatic image analysis. The optical detection together with the image analysis software allows for the time resolved localization of individual particles with diameters between 100 and 1000 nm. Observation of their Brownian motion over a set of time intervals leads to the determination of their mean square displacements under the given room temperature and viscosity. Hereby, the radii of a set of particles visible within a given optical frame are derived simultaneously. Rapid data analysis leads to reliable particle size histograms. The applicability of this method is demonstrated on polystyrene latices and PMMA nanospheres with radii between 51 nm and 202 nm.     

The Use of Capping Agents in the Stabilization and Functionalization of Metallic Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

The study of nanoparticles (NPs) and their application in different areas of research, including biomedicine, is attracting the attention of researchers worldwide. Numerous investigations published during the last 20 years cover the fabrication of new materials in the nanoscale, and several uses have been proposed. Metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) have generated a high level of interest, based on improved optical, electrical and magnetic properties, ease of manufacturing, small sizes, and easy functionalization. However, when it comes to Biomedicine, particle aggregation, possible toxicity, and the need for effective cell internalization, still demand active investigation. The main strategy to overcome these drawbacks is possibly the use of capping agents to increase the stability of the particles in dispersion, their biocompatibility and functionalization. In this review, important concepts and characteristics of MNPs, are collected and described. The importance of surface coating for biomedical applications of metallic nanoparticles as well as the most used capping agents and metallic nanomaterials, are also discussed. Finally, the text includes examples and essential characteristics for the biomedical use of MNPs, including the consideration of important challenges. Aspects such as relevant biological activity, increased biocompatibility and functionalization potential are among the most desirable attributes of a capping agent.     

Irreversible Adsorption of Serum Proteins onto Nanoparticles

When a material comes in contact with serum or plasma, proteins will immediately adsorb to its surface. The extent of serum protein adsorption as well as the composition of the protein corona is thought to be decisive for the biological fate. The understanding of the mechanism underlying the concurrent adsorption of multiple proteins and the exact ways by which the adsorbed proteins interact with the biological setting, is still rudimentary. For both cases, a correct estimate of the composition of the protein corona is the key for an improved understanding. The protein corona composition is typically analyzed indirectly through analysis of the supernatant after protein desorption. However, in most cases the particles are not analyzed afterward in order to ensure that all proteins indeed have desorbed. Here, the results related to the analysis of the amounts of proteins in the corona are reported, focusing on the desorbed as well as the fraction of proteins that do not desorb. Irreversible protein adsorption can be observed in some cases. The results show that, in addition of the analysis of the supernatant, analysis of the particles is of critical importance to fully characterize the protein corona formed on nanoparticles.     

Stem Cell Labeling and Tracking with Nanoparticles

Stem cell research is a field that has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. How to precisely label and track stem cells after administration is important not only for fundamental stem cell research, but also for practical applications of stem cell technology in the clinic. Various stem cell labeling and tracking strategies, many of which utilize nanotechnology, have been reported by many different groups. Here, recent progress in the development of various functional nanomaterials for stem cell labeling and tracking is reviewed and the current challenges and future prospects are discussed.     

Silver Nanoparticle Based Analysis of Aminoglycosides

Colorimetric silver nanoparticle sensor was developed for determination of aminoglycosides in milk. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized by using sodium borohydride as reducing agent and sodium dodecyl sulfate as stabilizer. Yellow color of silver turned into orange and red in proportion to the concentrations of analytes. Quantitative analyses were performed by using decrease in absorbance of silver nanoparticles at 394 nm. Linear ranges were 20–60 ng mL^?1, 23–60 ng mL^?1, and 60–100 ng mL^?1 for gentamicin, tobramycin, and amikacin, respectively. The method was optimized in terms of pH, ionic strength, and time. This simple and validated method was applied to milk samples and pharmaceutical preparations.     

Static Magnetic Field Dictates Protein Corona Formation on the Surface of Glutamine‐Modified Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have become important tools for the imaging and detecting of prevalent diseases for many years. Scientists usually harness their attraction to a static magnetic field (SMF) to increase targeting efficiency and minimize side effects. To prolong blood circulation time and minimize reticuloendothelial system clearance, SPIONs are increasingly designed with a negatively charged surface. Understanding how a SMF affects the SPIONs with a negative surface charge is fundamental to any potential downstream applications of SPIONs as drug delivery carriers and bio‐separation nanoparticles. The goal of our study is to investigate the effect of SMF treatment (204 mT) on the in vitro and in vivo protein corona formed on negatively charged SPIONs. The results reveal that the amount of protein and the composition of protein corona is directly related to the SMF treatment. Compared with the in vivo protein corona, SMF treatment exercises considerable influence on the composition of the in vitro protein corona. The in vitro protein corona formed on SPIONs modulates the secretion of inflammatory cytokines from cells. To the best of our knowledge, this report describes the first demonstration of a SMF as an influencing factor on protein corona formation in vivo. Our results help to elucidate the biological mechanisms of SPIONs with SMF treatment and suggest that the protein corona effect should be considered during the development of a magnetic target.     

Growth Behavior of CdS Nanoparticles Embedded in Polymer and Sol-Gel Silica Matrices: Relationship with Surface-State Related Luminescence

Chemical techniques were employed to synthesize CdS nanoparticles embedded in polymer (PEG 300) and sol-gel silica matrices. Systematic growth of particles (radius 3–9 nm) was obtained by adjusting post-deposition annealing temperature and time to examine the dependence of surface-state–related luminescence on particle size. Photoluminescence (PL) peak energy showed a linear dependence with a gentle slope in the weak confinement region and a steep slope in the strong confinement region, the divergence being observed near the excitonic Bohr radius for CdS. The empirical relation proposed for the weak confinement region could be used for estimating chemically prepared CdS nanoparticle size with a high degree of reliability from PL peak energy.     

Laser-Scanning Microscopy for Electrophoretic Mobility Characterization of Single Nanoparticles

To enable detailed studies of interactions between nanoparticles and their environment and the correlations between various nanoparticle properties, one must go beyond ensemble averages and toward single-particle measurements. However, current methodologies for the single-nanoparticle analysis of charge and size either lack the flexibility to study dynamic processes on the single-particle level or are highly specific and require complex microfluidic devices. In addition, accurate measurements of the electrophoretic mobility (or zeta-potential) based on the optical detection of single nanoparticles remain challenging due to the low photon budget, the required sampling frequency, and the fact that electroosmosis in typical microfluidic devices must be analyzed carefully. In this study, a method is investigated to accurately characterize the electrophoretic mobility of individual nanoparticles and estimate their size by simultaneously analyzing the electrokinetic- and Brownian motion in a simple microfluidic channel. Fast laser scanning excitation and sensitive detection of fluorescent photons enable single-nanoparticle velocimetry experiments in an oscillating electric field at high frame rates.     

Production of Monodisperse Nanoparticles and Application of Discrete-Monodisperse Model in Plasma Reactors

The particle growth in plasma reactor were investigated by using the discrete-monodisperse (D-M) model for various process conditions. The monodisperse large sized particle distribution predicted by the D-M model are in good agreement with the large sized particles by the discrete-sectional model and also in the experiments by Shiratani et al. (1996). Some fractions of the small size particles are in a neutral state or even charged positively, but most of the large sized monodisperse particles are charged negatively. As the mass generation rate of monomers increases, the large sized particles grow more quickly and the production rate of nanoparticles of 100nm by plasma reactor increases. As the initial electron concentration or the monomer diameter increases, it takes longer time for the large sized particles to grow up to 100nm, but the large sized particle concentration of 100nm increases and the resulting production rate of large sized particles of 100nm increases. As the residence time increases, the time for the large sized particles to grow up to 100nm decreases and the large sized particle concentration of 100nm increases and, as a result, the production rate of large sized particles of 100nm increases. We propose that the plasma reactor can be a good candidate to produce monodisperse nanoparticles.     

Smartphone-Based Colorimetric Method to Quantify Iron Concentration and to Determine the Nanoparticle Size from Suspensions of Magnetic Nanoparticles

Advanced uses of smartphones are changing lifestyles, and may have a great impact in materials science in the near future. In this work, the use of these devices to develop fast, simple, and cheap methods to characterize magnetic nanoparticle suspensions is tested. A series of dilutions of a wide library of magnetic nanoparticles, composed of iron oxide materials in the range between 3 and 43 nm, with two different shapes and four different coatings is prepared. The colloid color is analyzed using the RGB (red, green, blue) color model. Ratios of these parameters are correlated with the suspension iron concentration and with the nanoparticles average size. A linear relationship between the color (in particular the G/R ratio) and both the colloid iron content and the particles size is found. The link between these parameters allows the development of two new methods to determine either the concentration or the particle size of magnetic nanoparticle suspensions just by acquiring images from suspensions of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles with a smartphone.     

激光波门干扰下的电视跟踪算法研究

针对低能激光对电视制导跟踪波门实施视场内干扰时,传统的电视跟踪算法无法跟踪目标的问题,提出了一种基于结构相似度的粒子滤波相关跟踪算法。首先在粒子候选区域内进行直方图均衡化,提取出目标空间直方图,然后计算波门背景区域与目标的结构相似度,从图像质量上判断粒子滤波器的跟踪状态,建立抗干扰跟踪模式,跟踪目标。实验表明：该算法克...     

Estimation of Nanoparticle Size Distributions by Image Analysis

Knowledge of the nanoparticle size distribution is important for the interpretation of experimental results in many studies of nanoparticle properties. An automated method is needed for accurate and robust estimation of particle size distribution from nanoparticle images with thousands of particles. In this paper, we present an automated image analysis technique based on a deformable ellipse model that can perform this task. Results of using this technique are shown for both nearly spherical particles and more irregularly shaped particles. The technique proves to be a very useful tool for nanoparticle research.     

Resistive Pulse Sensing as a High‐Resolution Nanoparticle Sizing Method: A Comparative Study

One of the main challenges of sizing methods for nanoparticle (NP) suspensions is to distinguish between particles and particle populations with very small size differences. This would be especially important to follow various surface functionalization processes of nanoparticles resulting in small alterations of their size. In this respect, methods involving the detection of single particles, such as resistive pulse sensing (RPS) or nanoparticle tracking analysis, are generally considered superior to ensemble measuring methods such as dynamic light scattering. However, to compare the exact capabilities of these methodologies require systematic investigations in optimized conditions for each method. Here, such a study is presented for a narrow size range of spherical latex nanoparticles (60–200 nm). It is concluded that the RPS methodology based on quartz nanopipets as single nanopore counters, is the only sizing method among those studied capable to fully resolve a ternary mixture of 70, 110, and 140 nm average diameter NPs. The practical usefulness of this size resolution is demonstrated by following the increase in diameter of latex nanoparticles after their surface modification with antibodies.     

White-light Detection for Nanoparticle Sizing with the TSI Ultrafine Condensation Particle Counter

Several of the most common methods for measuring nanoparticle size distributions employ the ultrafine condensation particle counter (UCPC) for detection purposes. Among these methods, the pulse height analysis (PHA) technique, in which the optical response of the UCPC detector is related to initial particle diameter in the 3–10nm range, prevails in applications where fast sampling is required or for which concentrations of nanoparticles are frequently very low. With the PHA technique, white light is required for particle illumination in order to obtain a monotonic relationship between initial particle diameter and optical response (pulse height). However, the popular, commercially available TSI Model 3025A UCPC employs a laser for particle detection. Here, we report on a novel white-light detection system developed for the 3025A UCPC that involves minimal alteration to the instrument and preserves normal counting operation. Performance is illustrated with pulse height spectra produced by differential mobility analyzer (DMA) – generated calibration aerosols in the 3–50nm range.     

NIR‐Triggered Release of Nitric Oxide with Upconversion Nanoparticles Inhibits Platelet Aggregation in Blood Samples

There is a great challenge to overcome the limitation of tissue penetration depth, while maximizing the benefit of light‐triggered biochemical cascades in a well‐defined mode simultaneously. Here, a new method of near‐infrared (NIR) light‐triggered release of nitric oxide (NO) by developing upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs)‐based conjugate chemistry is reported. As the key nanotransducer in the design, core–shell‐structured UCNPs are encapsulated with a layer of SiO₂ and then covalently linked with a potent NO‐releasing donor (S‐nitroso‐N‐acetyl‐dl ‐penicillamine, SNAP). It is featured with highly localized breakage of chemical bonds of SNAP molecules by NIR–UV upconversion, enabling simultaneous NO release in a light dosage‐dependent manner. The biological effects of NO releasing are demonstrated by cellular imaging and inhibition of platelet aggregation from blood samples. This work provides a flexible and robust platform to generate cell‐signaling gas molecules trigged by NIR laser with deep tissue penetration.     

纳米粒子在自吸附半柔性高分子诱导下成有序的环形结构

采用动态蒙特卡洛方法研究了自吸附半柔性高分子及其自吸附半柔性高分子与纳米粒子组成的混合物的构象行为.自吸附半柔性高分子的构象行为的研究,结果显示通过自吸附参数和弯曲能使高分子从一个线团状构象转变成一个紧密螺绕环状构象.紧密螺绕环状构象的折叠过程分为三个阶段:(i)几个分立的螺绕环(ii)一个松散的螺绕环(iii)一个紧密螺绕环.自吸附半柔性高分子与纳米粒子组成的混合物的构象行为的研究,结果表明可以采用具有紧密螺绕环结构的高分子有效地调控纳米粒子的空间排列.另外观察到一个非常有趣的现象,纳米粒子排列成一个环形结构.