[en] Over the last decade, nanoparticles used as protein carriers have opened new avenues for a variety of biomedical applications. The main concern for these applications is changes in biological activity of immobilized proteins due to conformational changes on the surface of the carrier. To evaluate this concern, the preparation and bio catalyst activity of α-chymotrypsin-Fe_3O_4 Au core/shell nanoparticles were investigated. First, Fe_3O_4 Au core/shell nanoparticles were synthesized by coprecipitation method and citrate reduction of HAuCl_4. TEM imaging revealed a core size of 13 ± 3 nm and a shell thickness of 4 ± 1 nm for synthesized nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the crystalline structure of the nanoparticles. Next, the enzyme was immobilized on the surface of synthesized nanoparticles by covalent bonding of Au shell with thiol and amine groups present in the protein structure (e.g., cysteine and histidine residues). FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy were utilized to study secondary and tertiary structures of the immobilized enzyme. Results show that the secondary and tertiary structures of the enzyme remain virtually unchanged after immobilization on the nanoparticles surface. However, the bio catalyst activity of the enzyme was reduced by thirty percent, indicating possible conformational changes or active site occlusion

[en] One-dimensional BiFeO_3 (BFO) nano fibers fabricated by electro spinning of a solution of Nylon_6/BFO followed by calcination were used for photo catalytic degradation of contaminants in water. The BFO fibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The SEM images of the as-spun samples demonstrated the successful production of nano fibers and the SEM images of the samples after calcination confirmed the integrity of the continuous BFO nano fibers. XRD analysis indicated the dominant presence of BFO phase throughout the calcinated nano fibers. Photo catalytic activity of the nano fibers and their application in water purification were investigated against 4-chloro phenol (4CP) as a model water contaminant. The results of the UV-Vis spectroscopy show the degradation of the 4CP by means of the photo catalytic activity of the BFO nano fibers. The kinetics of the photodegradation of 4CP is believed to be governed by a pseudo-first-order kinetics model.

[en] Biosynthesis of monodispersed nanoparticles, along with determination of potential responsible biomolecules, is the major bottleneck in the area of bio nano technology research. The present study focuses on an eco friendly, ambient temperature protocol for size controlled synthesis of gold nanoparticles, using the fungus Aspergillus terreus IF0. Gold nanoparticles were formed immediately, with the addition of chloroauric acid to the aqueous fungal extract. Synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, TEM-EDX, and XRD analysis. Particle diameter and dispersity of nanoparticles were controlled by varying the ph of the fungal extract. At ph 10, the average size of the synthesized particles was in the range of 10–19 nm. Dialysis to obtain high and low molecular weight fraction followed by FTIR analysis revealed that biomolecules larger than 12 kDa and having –CH, –NH, and –SH functional groups were responsible for bioreduction and stabilization. In addition, the synthesized gold nanoparticles were found to be selectively bactericidal against the pathogenic gram negative bacteria, Escherichia coli.

[en] In the 21st century water polluted by heavy metal is one of the environment problems. Various methods for removal of the heavy metal ions from the water have extensively been studied. Application of iron oxide nana particles based nano materials for removal of heavy metals is well-known adsorbents for remediation of water. Due to its important physiochemical property, inexpensive method and easy regeneration in the presence of external magnetic field make them more attractive toward water purification. Surface modification strategy of iron oxide nanoparticles is also used for the remediation of water increases the efficiency of iron oxide for the removal of the heavy metal ions from the aqueous system.

[en] Nano technology plays a central role in both academic research and industrial applications. Nano enabled products are not only found in consumer markets, but also importantly in business to business markets (B2B). One of the oldest application areas of nano technology is nano catalysis—an excellent example for such a B2 B market. Several existing reviews illustrate the scientific developments in the field of nano catalysis. The goal of the present review is to provide an up-to-date picture of academic research and to extend this picture by an industrial and economic perspective. We therefore conducted an extensive search on several scientific databases and we further analyzed more than 1,500 nano catalysis-related patents and numerous market studies. We found that scientists today are able to prepare nano catalysts with superior characteristics regarding activity, selectivity, durability, and recoverability, which will contribute to solve current environmental, social, and industrial problems. In industry, the potential of nano catalysis is recognized, clearly reflected by the increasing number of nano catalysis-related patents and products on the market. The current nano catalysis research in academic and industrial laboratories will therefore enable a wealth of future applications in the industry

[en] This paper presents a study on the mechanical, thermal, and electrical characterization of a new class of low cost multiphase nano composites consisting of Vinyl ester resin/epoxy (VER/EP) blend (40:60 w/w) reinforced with amine functionalized multi walled carbon nano tubes (f-MWCNTs). Five different sets of VER/EP nano composites are fabricated with addition of 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 wt.% of f-MWCNTs. A detailed investigation of mechanical properties like tensile strength, impact strength, Young’s modulus, and hardness, thermal properties like thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermal conductivity, electrical properties like dielectric strength, dielectric constant, and electrical conductivity, and corrosive and swelling properties of the nano composites has been carried out. Here, we report significant improvement in all the above properties of the fabricated nano composites with nano filler (f-MWCNTs) addition compared to the virgin blend (0 wt. nano filler loading). The properties are best observed in case of 5 wt.% nano filler loading with gradual deterioration thereafter which may be due to the nucleating tendency of the nano filler particles. Thus the above nano composites could be a preferable candidate for a wide range of structural, thermal, electrical, and solvent based applications.

[en] Possibility for a novel type of sensors for detecting nano sized substances (e.g., macromolecules or molecule clusters) through their effects on electron tunneling in a double nano scale semiconductor heterostructure is discussed. We studied spectral distributions of localized/delocalized states of a single electron in a double quantum well (DQW) with relation to slight asymmetry perturbations. The asymmetry was modeled by modification of the dot shape and the confinement potential. Electron energy uncertainty is restricted by the differences between energy levels within the spectra of separated QWs. Hence, we established a direct relationship between the uncertainty of electron localization and the energy uncertainty. We have shown in various instances that a small violation of symmetry drastically affects the electron localization. These phenomena can be utilized to devise new sensing functionalities. The charge transport in such sensors is highly sensitive to minuscule symmetry violation caused by the detected substance. The detection of the electron localization constitutes the sensor signal.

[en] Electro wetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) based droplet actuation in micro fluidic chip is designed and fabricated. EWOD is used as on-chip micro-pumping scheme for moving fluid digitally in Lab-on-a-chip devices. For enabling this scheme, stacked deposition of thin dielectric and hydrophobic layer in that order between microchannel and electrodes is done. The present paper investigates the potential use of SU-8 as hydrophobic layer in conjunction of acting as dielectric in the device. The objective for the investigation is to lower the cost and a thin simplification in fabrication process of EWOD-based devices. We have done design and optimization of dimensions of electrode array including gap between arrays for EWOD micropump. Design and optimization are carried out in CoventorWare. The designing is followed by fabrication of device and analysis for droplet motion. The fabrication of the device includes array of electrodes over the silicon surface and embedding them in hydrophobic SU-8 layer. Water droplet movement in the order of microliter of spherical shape is demonstrated. It has been shown that an SU-8 microchannel in the current design allows micro fluidic flow at tens of voltages comparable with costlier and more complicated to fabricate designs reported in the literature

[en] We investigated the relationship between differences in multi walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) and the biological responses they elicit in order to develop biocompatible MWCNTs. We exposed human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells to two sizes and six grades of MWCNTs and measured the resulting cell viability, total reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species (tROS/RNS) production, and cytokine secretion. Although differences in cellular tROS production were associated with differences in grades of MWCNTs, the graphitization temperature of MWCNTs apparently did not influence tROS production. However, cell viability was affected by MWCNT graphitization temperature and diameter. Moreover, cytokine secretion was apparently affected by treatment temperature, but not MWCNT diameter. We concluded that the highest temperature resulted in the most biocompatibility because impurities and carbon defects were removed from the MWCNTs. However, other mechanisms are possible. Therefore, it is important to optimize each type of MWCNT by monitoring biological responses that type elicits during the manufacturing stage for applications involving biology and medicine.

[en] This paper reviews the progress of the vertical top-down nano wire technology platform developed to explore novel device architectures and integration schemes for green electronics and clean energy applications. Under electronics domain, besides having ultimate scaling potential, the vertical wire offers (1) CMOS circuits with much smaller foot print as compared to planar transistor at the same technology node, (2) a natural platform for tunneling FETs, and (3) a route to fabricate stacked nonvolatile memory cells. Under clean energy harvesting area, vertical wires could provide (1) cost reduction in photovoltaic energy conversion through enhanced light trapping and (2) a fully CMOS compatible thermoelectric engine converting waste-heat into electricity. In addition to progress review, we discuss the challenges and future prospects with vertical nano wires platform.