Ag NPs decked GO composite as a competent and reusable catalyst for ‘ON WATER’ chemoselective synthesis of pyrano[2,3-c:6,5-c′]dipyrazol]-2-ones

We have synthesized and characterized Ag NPs decked GO composite and studied its role as reusable catalyst for the ‘ON WATER’ chemoselective synthesis of pyranodipyrazolones via the reaction of different carbonyl compounds with 3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-5(4H)-one. This method illustrates significant selectivity for pyranodipyrazolones over arylmethylene bispyrazolols and arylmethylenepyrazolones. Synergistic effect of heterogenic nature of water with reactants and Ag NPs/GO had profuse outcome on reaction as indicated by high TOF (18.03 × 10^?5 mol g^?1 min^?1). Furthermore, catalyst was recycled for 7-times without significant loss of activity.     

Microstructure of nickel nanoparticles embedded in carbon films: case study on annealing effect by micromorphology analysis

The presented study is aimed at analyzing the surface texture of amorphous hydrogenated carbon layers containing nickel nanoparticles (Ni‐NPs@a‐C:H) within their structure, which were deposited by Radio Frequency (RF) sputtering and RF‐Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (RF‐PECVD) methods on glass substrates. Prepared films were then used as research material following their annealing at two different temperatures of 250 °C and 350 °C in an inert argon atmosphere. Series of height samples were taken with the help of atomic force microscopy (AFM) operating in a non‐contact mode and examined in order to determine their fractal characteristics. Raw AFM data were first plane‐fitted to remove the surface bow exhibiting the so‐called residual surface, and then numerically processed to calculate the Areal Autocorrelation Function (AACF), which was later used to compute the Structure Function (SF). The log–log plots of the latter served for calculation of fractal properties of surfaces under investigation, including fractal dimension D, and pseudo‐topothesy K. The analysis of 3‐D surface texture helps to understand their essential characteristics and their implications as well as graphical models and their implementation in computer simulation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface modified silver selinide nanoparticles as extracting probes to improve peptide/protein detection via nanoparticles-based liquid phase microextraction coupled with MALDI mass spectrometry

We report the first use of functionalized Ag₂Se nanoparticles (NPs) as effective extracting probes for NPs-based liquid-phase microextraction (NPs-LPME) to analyze hydrophobic peptides and proteins from biological samples (urine and plasma) and soybean in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS). Surface modified functional groups such as octadecanethiol (ODT) and 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (MUA) on Ag₂Se NPs were found to play an important role for efficient extraction of peptides and proteins from test samples through hydrophobic interactions. The peptides can be efficiently extracted using functionalized Ag₂Se NPs as extracting probes in the presence of high concentration of matrix interferences such as 4 M urea, 0.5% Triton X-100 and 3% NaCl. Ag₂Se@ODT NPs have shown better extraction efficiency and detection sensitivity for peptides than Ag₂Se@MUA NPs, bare Ag₂Se NPs and conventional MALDI-MS. The LODs are 20-68 nM for valinomycin and 100-180 nM for gramicidin D using Ag₂Se@ODT NPs-LPME in the MALDI-MS. The current approach is highly sensitive and the target analytes can be effectively isolated without sample loss and efficiently analyzed in MALDI-MS.     

Facile synthesis of SERS active Ag nanoparticles in the presence of tri-n-octylphosphine sulfide

A facile and novel way was reported here for the synthesis of hydrophobic Ag nanoparticles (NPs), using AgNO₃, tri-n-octylphosphine (TOP) and sulfur (S) powder in process. TOP was used as solvent, reducing agent and stabilizer. S could chelate with excessive TOP to form trioctylphosphine sulfide (TOPS), which served as second capping agent. The hydrophobic Ag NPs could be transformed into hydrophilic state through ligand exchange. Furthermore, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP) were obtained on the hydrophobic and hydrophilic Ag NPs modified substrates, indicating that the as-synthesized Ag NPs had great potential for high sensitive optical detection applications.     

A New Method for Separation of Hydrophobic Au Nanoparticles in the Reversal Micelle

In this article, a new method which not only can separate hydrophobic Au nanoparticles (NPs), but also obtain highly monodisperse NPs is discussed. A self‐made device of two same burettes, one of which was inserted into the other, was used for separating the nanoparticles by washing the reversal micelle. The effects of separation were characterized and analyzed by micrograph of transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV‐vis spectra, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and energy dispersive x‐ray analysis (EDX). It has been shown that, the smaller nanoparticles are, the easier they are to stay at the reversal micelle and the narrower the sizes are. This method can be applied to synthesize highly monodisperse Au NPs.     

Synthesis of CuS nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon composite for ultrasound‐assisted adsorption removal of dye pollutants: Process optimization using CCD‐RSM,equilibrium and kinetic studies

In this study, the CuS nanoparticles loaded on activated carbon (CuS‐NPs‐AC) composite was synthesized and then, characterized by XRD and FE‐SEM analyses. The prepared composite was used as a potential adsorbent for the simultaneous ultrasound‐assisted removal of Indigo Carmine (IC) and Safranin‐O (SO). The CuS‐NPs‐AC dose (0.01‐0.03 g), sonication time (1‐5 min), initial SO concentration (5‐15 mg L^‐1) and initial IC concentration (5‐15 mg L^‐1) as expectable effective parameters were studied by central composite design (CCD) under response surface methodology (RSM) to obtain an useful knowledge about the effect of simultaneous interaction between IC and SO on their removal percentage. The optimum SO and IC removal percentages were determined to be 98.24 and 97.15% at pH = 6, 0.03 g of the CuS‐NPs‐AC, 3 min sonication time, 12 and 10 mg L^‐1 of IC and SO. The values of coefficient of determination (R²) for SO and IC were 0.9608 and 0.9796, respectively, indicating the favorable fitness of the experimental data to the second order polynomial regression model. The isotherm data were well correlated with Freundlich model. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of 87.5 and 69.90 mg g^‐1 at room temperature for IC and SO in the investigated binary system expressed the high efficiency of the novel adsorbent for water cleanup within a short time. The investigation of correlation between time and rate of adsorption revealed that IC and SO adsorption onto the CuS‐NPs‐AC followed pseudo‐second‐order and intra‐particle diffusion simultaneously.     

A novel aptasensor based on 3D-inorganic hybrid composite as immobilized substrate for sensitive detection of platelet-derived growth factor

A novel electrochemical detection approach for platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) via "sandwich"structure is reported in this paper. 3D-4MgCO_3 Mg(OH)_2 4H_2O-Au NPs inorganic hybrid composite was utilized as immobilized substrate for sensitive PDGF detection and Pt-Au bimetallic nanoparticles were labelled on PDGF aptamer to indirectly detect PDGF for the first time. The proposed aptasensor exhibited a high catalytic efficiency towards reduction of H_2O_2, hence the sensitive detection of PDGF was achieved.Results showed that the aptasensor exhibited excellent linear response to PDGF, in the range of 0.1 pg/m L–10 ng/m L(4 fmol/L–400 pmol/L), with detection limit of 0.03 pg/m L(1.2 fmol/L).     

Polyethylene glycol phospholipids encapsulated silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine dihydroxide nanoparticles (SiNcOH-DSPEPEG(NH2) NPs) for single NIR laser induced cancer combination therapy

Currently, the combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a powerful technique for cancer treatment. However, most examples of combined PTT and PDT reported use multi-component nanocomposites under excitation of separate wavelength, resulting in complex treatment process. In this work, a novel theranostic nanoplatform (SiNcOH-DSPE-PEG(NH₂) NPs) has been successfully developed by coating silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine dihydroxide (SiNcOH) with DSPE-PEG and DSPE-PEG-NH₂ for photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided PTT and PDT tumor ablation for the first time. The as-prepared single-agent SiNcOH-DSPE-PEG(NH₂) NPs not only have good water solubility and biocompatibility, but also exhibit high photothermal conversion efficiency and singlet oxygen generation capability upon 808 nm NIR laser irradiation. In addition, owing to their high absorption at NIR region, the SiNcOH-DSPE-PEG(NH₂) NPs can also be employed as an effective diagnostic nanoagent for photoacoustic (PA) imaging. In vitro and in vivo experimental results clearly indicated that the simultaneously combined PTT and PDT under the guidance of PA imaging with single NIR laser excitation can effectively kill cancer cells or eradicate tumor tissues. Taking facile synthesis and high efficiency in cancer treatment by SiNcOH-DSPE-PEG(NH₂) NPs into consideration, our study provides a promising strategy to realize molecular imaging-guided combination therapy.     

Fabrication of graphene‐silver/polyurethane nanofibrous scaffolds for cardiac tissue engineering

The graphene‐based nanocomposites are considered as great candidates for enhancing electrical and mechanical properties of nonconductive scaffolds in cardiac tissue engineering. In this study, reduced graphene oxide‐silver (rGO‐Ag) nanocomposites (1 and 2 wt%) were synthesized and incorporated into polyurethane (PU) nanofibers via electrospinning technique. Next, the human cardiac progenitor cells (hCPCs) were seed on these scaffolds for in vitro studies. The rGO‐Ag nanocomposites were studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope (TEM). After incorporation of rGO‐Ag into PU nanofibers, the related characterizations were carried out including scanning electron microscope (SEM), TEM, water contact angle, and mechanical properties. Furthermore, PU and PU/nanocomposites scaffolds were used for in vitro studies, wherein hCPCs showed good cytocompatibility via 3‐(4, 5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and considerable attachment on the scaffold using SEM studies. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunostaining studies confirmed the upregulation of cardiac specific genes including GATA‐4, T‐box 18 (TBX 18), cardiac troponin T (cTnT), and alpha‐myosin heavy chain (α‐MHC) in the PU/rGO‐Ag scaffolds in comparison with neat PU ones. Therefore, these nanofibrous rGO‐Ag–reinforced PU scaffolds can be considered as suitable candidates in cardiac tissue engineering.