Current Nanoscience - Volume 6, Issue 4, 2010

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Sensors play a significant role in everyday life. Nowadays, there has been a strong demand for highly selective, sensitive, responsive, stable and cost effective sensors. As a result, research emphasis is on developing new sensing materials and technologies. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have many distinct properties that may be exploited to develop next generation of sensors. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique co Read More

Nanoparticles have long been sought as promising drug delivery system for cancer therapy, including liposomes, polymeric micelles, polymer-drug conjugates, dendrimers and polymeric nanoparticles. However, conventional nanoparticles would be specifically entrapped by the monocyte phagocytic system (MPS), and then quickly eliminated following intravenous administration, so the applications of nanoparticles are limit Read More

We focus on most commonly used epitaxial growth techniques of quantum wells (QWs) and study the single electron transitions within the QW laser structures made with II-VI's (e.g. CdSe/ZnSe) and III-V's (e.g. GaN/AlN), considering only emission of longitudinal optical (LO) phonons. Two different approaches have been employed in order to describe the initial electron wavefunctions in the continuum energy spectrum: the width of Read More

In this paper, we report a facile biological method for extracellular synthesis of copper oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) using Escherichia coli (E. coli). We report that trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitated protein fraction of E. coli has synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles (CONPs), under simple experimental conditions like aerobic environment, neutral pH and room temperature. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electro Read More

We report Opuntia ficus-indica mediated synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles. Detection and characterization of nanoparticles were carried out by UV-Vis- and Fourier Transform Infra Red Spectroscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction analysis respectively. The aim of the present study was synthesis of silver nanoparticles, assessment of their antibacterial activity, and study of possible mechanism involved. Read More

Plant pathogenic fungus Fusarium culmorum (MTCC-2090) assists in the mycosynthesis of silver nanoparticles. Formation of spherical silver nanoparticles was confirmed from TEM analysis and found in the range of 5-25 nm with an average diameter of 11 nm. Different temperature and pH affects the synthesis of silver nanoparticles indicating that synthesis depends significantly on temperature and pH. Formation of silver Read More

Metal oxide nanoparticles are known to possess strong antimicrobial properties. Titanium dioxide (titania) nanoparticles have wide range antimicrobial as well biomedical applications. In the present work the antimicrobial properties of Titanium dioxide- anatase nanoparticles were investigated in the concentration range 10-100 ppm using Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The average s Read More

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is a reliable predictor of lymph node status in staging solid cancers and it is generating a great deal of enthusiasm among clinicians. Herein, methylene blue (MB) was encapsulated within a microemulsion nanosystem. Its near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence was used for mouse SLN imaging and mapping. The results show an obvious improvement in the NIR fluorescence of the MB aqueous solution aft Read More

This study examines the optoelectronic characteristics and carrier transport model of a nanostructure p-ZnO/SiO2 ultrathin interlayer/n-Si photodiode in various magnetic fields. The magneto-induced current in photodiode increases exponentially as the reverse bias and illumination flux increases. This is primarily the result of the magneto-optical multiplication effects. The absorption edges of photodiodes with applied ma Read More

Lanthanide ions are visible to near-infrared ultra-narrowband emitters with long lifetime thus have potential applications in lasing, up-conversion and in bioimaging. Present work report a general, single step and easy solvothermal method to synthesize well crystalline, pure and Eu3+ doped ZnSe nanocrystals in a unified system. The products were well characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible (UV-vis) spect Read More

This study is related to the preparation of boron supported YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) superconducting material. The first step was the preparation of a composite formed by mixing yttrium, barium, and copper acetates with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at a suitable temperature. The resulting composite polymer was electrospun to produce nanofibers. Finally, the obtained nanofibers were subjected to thermal treatments at 500°C, 600°C Read More

Macrophage targeting therapies are a promising approach to treat various intracellular infections like AIDS, tuberculosis and leprosy. The present paper demonstrates the design and development of mannosylated nanoparticles of biopolymeric origin. Spherical and smooth gelatin nanoparticles in the size range of 100-200 nm with a narrow polydispersity index (<0.1) were synthesized and characterized by TEM, AFM and XPS for Read More

Present study reports optimal conditions for the preparation of cyclosporin A loaded PLGA nanoparticles with a diameter <200nm. In a systematic approach, various process variables such as homogenization/sonication, choice of suitable stabilizer and its concentration, drug loading etc. were optimized to achieve maximum drug loading and desired particle size (<200nm) and the optimized formulation was further characterize Read More

A novel, cost effective, environment-friendly and energetically beneficial alternative method for the synthesis of giant dielectric pseudo-perovskite material CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) is presented. The method involved auto-combustion of an aqueous precursor solution in oxygen atmosphere with the help of external fuels and is capable of producing high amount of CCTO at ultra-low temperature, in the combustion residue itself. T Read More