Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited childhood-onset life-shortening disease. It is characterized by increased respiratory production, leading to airway obstruction, chronic lung infection and inflammatory reactions. The most common bacteria causing persisting infections in people with CF is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) conjugated to the antibiotic (tobramycin), guided by a gradient of the magnetic field or subjected to an oscillating magnetic field, show promise in improving the drug delivery across the mucus and P. aeruginosa biofilm to the bacteria. The question remains whether tobramycin needs to be released from the NPs after the penetration of the mucus barrier in order to act upon the pathogenic bacteria. We used a zero-length 1-ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl] carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) crosslinking agent to couple tobramycin, via its amine groups, to the carboxyl groups on Fe3O4 NPs capped with citric acid. The therapeutic efficiency of Fe3O4 NPs attached to the drug versus that of the free drug was investigated in P. aeruginosa culture.

Nano- and micrometer size spherical bismuth particles were prepared by reducing bismuth salts in simple and mixed polyols at elevated temperatures. In general, the conversion to metallic bismuth was preceded by the formation, at intermediate temperatures, of bismuth-polyol compounds. By changing the type of bismuth salt, the composition of the polyol mixture, and the temperature of the process, these precursors were successfully converted into spherical bismuth particles. It was found that the reduction process proceeds only if the temperature of the polyol exceeds the values at which the intermediate bismuth-polyol are stable, which was determined to be around 220 °C.

Colloidally stable suspensions are required to fabricate dense samples with uniform microstructure by colloidal processing methods, which necessitate dispersion of ceramic powders in a liquid medium. Aqueous nano ZrO2 suspensions were prepared using polyethylenimine (PEI) as a dispersant. PEI adsorption on nano ZrO2 surfaces was promoted with increasing initial PEI content and suspension pH. Isoelectric point was shifted from pH 7 at 0 wt% PEI to pH 10.4 at 3 wt% PEI. Stable suspensions had mean particle sizes in the range of 100 to 150 nm and sedimentation rates less than0.4 mm/h, as compared to 2–5.5 μm and 10–50 mm/h for unstable suspensions. Samples with 98% relative density were fabricated after sintering at 1300 °C for 4 h from colloidally stable suspensions.

The high magneto-viscous response of magnetorheological fluids (MRFs) comes from the large size (≈1 μm) of the magnetic particles dispersed in the carrier liquid. Unfortunately, in the absence of a magnetic field, this large size constitutes the origin of some problems facing the technological applications of MRFs. These problems are (i) the instability of the suspensions caused by the fast settling of the high density magnetic particles used, and (ii) the poor redispersibility due to an irreversible aggregation. In this work, we used an electromagnetic induction method to study the stability of MRFs containing micron-sized iron particles dispersed in ferrofluids composed by oleate-covered magnetite nanoparticles dispersed in kerosene. Interestingly, we demonstrated that the sedimentation rate in iron/ferrofluid suspensions can be significantly lower than in iron/kerosene MRFs.

We demonstrated a facile route based on the use of acetone and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to prepare polystyrene (PS)/Ag/TiO2 multilayered colloids with controllable shell thickness. In this route, PVP absorbed directly onto PS colloid surface, and the Ag seed shell composed of Ag nanoparticles was synthesized directly under the PVP shell by swelling the surface layer of the PS core. Because the PVP shell increased the affinity of the Ag shell to TiO2, the hydrolyzed titania particles could deposit directly onto the core to form the outer TiO2 shell. A seed growth technique and the controllable hydrolysis reaction of tetra-n-butyl titanate were developed to grow the shell thickness of Ag and TiO2, respectively. Studies of the absorption properties indicate that the optical properties of these multilayered composite colloids can be modified by changing the coating species and shell thickness.

Brillouin scattering has been used to study the elastic properties of alkaline-calcium silica hydrogels synthesized from the precipitation of sodium silicate solution with calcium hydroxide. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first determination of the bulk elastic moduli for this type of alkaline-calcium silica hydrogel, also referred to as the alkali-silica reaction (ASR) gel. The measured bulk moduli for the alkaline-calcium silica hydrogels were found to be between 4 and 8 GPa for the gel containing 0.08 M Ca(OH)2 and between 10 and 25 GPa for the gel containing 0.8 M Ca(OH)2, increasing with increasing pressure. Fourier transform infrared measurements were made to correlate the moduli to the silica speciation and network formation within the gels as a function of Ca(OH)2 content. Significantly, for the concentrations considered, both the interconnection of the silica species and the bulk modulus increased with increasing Ca(OH)2 content. On this basis, Brillouin scattering was confirmed to be a useful method for distinguishing between the bulk moduli of alkaline-calcium silica hydrogels in terms of chemical composition. The potential for further characterization of ASR gels as a function of composition and water content by this technique is highly promising.

Nanocrystalline magnetite powders were synthesized by an electrocoagulation technique, in which an electric current was passed across two plate electrodes of carbon steel immersed in NaCl(aq) electrolyte, and the microstructure of the oxide powder was found to evolve in roughly three stages. The first stage involves formation and growth of severely defective colloidal crystallites. This is followed by agglomeration among the oxide crystallites to form mesoporous agglomerates containing predominantly inter-crystallite pores, and the average crystallite size was found to reach a plateau. Finally, coarsening of the crystallites within the agglomerates leads to another rapid increase in crystallite size and reduction in pore opening. The synthesized powders typically showed a saturation magnetization of ∼75 emu/g and a coercivity Hc of ∼118 Oe. A mechanism involving competition between nucleation and growth of free colloids and coarsening of the skeletal framework was proposed to explain the temporary level-off in crystallite size during the synthesis.

CdSe magic-sized nanoclusters were synthesised at relatively low temperatures (90–150 °C) in the organometallic raw material solution by a very simple method. The variation process from nanoclusters to nanocrystals has been determined using the microreactor, and it was found that these nanoclusters could increase the CdSe nuclei number and product yield in the microfluidic reactor method. Meanwhile, the microreactor shows the advantage for studying the nanocrystal-growth process due to the precise time and temperature control and high reproducibility.

In this paper, we present a study on the formation of gold colloids by laser ablation of a gold metal target in alkanes and thiol-alkane solutions. The results show a decrease of the gold particles’ size up to 2 nm when thiol molecules are present in the liquid environment. The observation of a blue-shift of the surface plasmon resonance is discussed together with transmission electron microscopy analyses accounting the cluster size decrease and the stabilization of the obtained suspensions.

Hybrid bulk heterojunction composites are promising material for low-cost organic solar cells. Fundamental measurements with CdTe nanocrystal/MEH-PPV poly [2-methoxy-5-(2′-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene] composites and the first realization of a solar cell based on this material are presented. Optical and electrochemical properties are discussed as well as the current voltage characteristic of the resulting cell. It was found, that CdTe nanocrystal/MEH-PPV composites are well suited for an organic solar cell, even though the technological realization needs to be improved.

During experiments conducted within the vent pool of Medusa Geyser, Norris Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, USA, amorphous opaline silica (opal-A) was deposited on/within plant tissues within 30 days of immersion. Initially, deposition created inter/intra-cellular films which lined cell walls plus intercellular colloid suspensions (sols) of opal-A nano/microspheres. By 330 days, opal-A deposition created a robust external and internal matrix that stabilised tissues against collapse and replicated plant structure. Opal-A films increased to micron-order thicknesses and intracellular sols were created. Systematic variation of opal-A fabric between tissues comprising living/dead cells at the time of deposition indicate that cell function, architecture and shape influence fabric development. Heterogeneity of opal-A fabric within adjacent cells of similar structure/function indicates spatially/temporally fluctuating physicochemical conditions and the presence of intraorganic microenvironments. Early deposition of opal-A films suggests a period of low silica supersaturation and slow opal-A deposition. In contrast, intracellular sols suggest high levels of supersaturation, and rapid opal-A deposition. Shell-like microsphere growth suggests cyclic variation of silica supersaturation, and alternations between rapid and slower opal-A deposition. Microsphere growth to the upper limit of colloidal stability and colloidal crystal structures indicate prolonged sol stability, whilst floc-like microsphere networks indicate localised sol instabi