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The exploration of nanocomposites has gained a strong research following over the last decade. These materials have been heavily exploited in several fields, with applications ranging from biosensors to biomedicine. Among these applications, great advances have been made in the field of microbiology, specifically as antimicrobial agents. This review aims to provide a comprehensive account of various nanocomposites that elucidate promising antimicrobial activity. The composition, physical and chemical properties, as well as the antimicrobial performance of these nanocomposites, are discussed in detail.

A suspension containing 20?nm silica particles in ethylene glycol was subjected to electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) in the stable cone-jet mode using a ring-shaped ground electrode. The droplets produced were sized by laser diffraction and were in the range 0.5?20??m. Immediately after deposition, droplet relics were analysed by optical microscopy and were found to be in the size range 1?80??m. Subsequently, using a pointed rod-electrode (rather than a ring), and by increasing the intensity of the electric field and by reducing the flow rate of suspension subjected to EHDA, relics of in size were deposited using a patterning device. In both of the above instances, the relics contained two distinct zones, an outer ring of ethylene glycol and a much smaller dense inner region of silica nanoparticles. These results show that, by using EHDA, a novel controlled deposition method of nanosuspensions has been developed.

The vaginal route is increasingly being considered for both local and systemic delivery of drugs, especially those unsuitable for oral administration. One of the opportunities offered by this route but yet to be fully utilised is the administration of microbicides. Microbicides have an unprecedented potential for mitigating the global burden from HIV infection as heterosexual contact accounts for most of the new infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest prevalent rates. Decades of efforts and massive investment of resources into developing an ideal microbicide have resulted in disappointing outcomes, as attested by several clinical trials assessing the suitability of those formulated so far. The highly complex and multi-level biochemical interactions that must occur among the virus, host cells and the drug for transmission to be halted means that a less sophisticated approach to formulating a microbicide e.g. conventional gels, etc may have to give way for a different formulation approach. Nanotechnology has been identified to offer prospects for fabricating structures with high capability of disrupting HIV transmission. In this review, predominant challenges seen in microbicide development have been highlighted and possible ways of surmounting them suggested. Furthermore, formulations utilising some of these highly promising nanostructures such as liposomes, nanofibres and nanoparticles have been discussed. A perspective on how a tripartite collaboration among governments and their agencies, the pharmaceutical industry and academic scientists to facilitate the development of an ideal microbicide in a timely manner has also been briefly deliberated.

The purpose of this research was to produce multi-dimensional scaffolds containing biocompatible particles and fibres. To achieve this, two techniques were combined and used: T-Junction microfluidics and electrohydrodynamic (EHD) processing. The former was used to form layers of monodispersed bovine serum albumin (BSA) bubbles, which upon drying formed porous scaffolds. By altering the T-Junction processing parameters, bubbles with different diameters were produced and hence the scaffold porosity could be controlled. EHD processing was used to spray or spin poly(lactic-co-glycolic) (PLGA), polymethysilsesquioxane (PMSQ) and collagen particles/fibres onto the scaffolds during their production and after drying. As a result, multifunctional BSA scaffolds with controlled porosity containing PLGA, PMSQ and collagen particles/fibres were obtained. Product morphology was studied by optical and scanning electron microscopy. These products have potential applications in many advanced biomedical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields e.g. bone regeneration, drug delivery, cosmetic cream lathers, facial scrubbing creams etc.

A key challenge in the production of multicomponent nanoparticles for healthcare applications is obtaining reproducible monodisperse nanoparticles with the minimum number of preparation steps. This paper focus on the use of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) techniques to produce core-shell polymer-lipid structures with a narrow size distribution in a single step process. These nanoparticles are composed of a hydrophilic core for active component encapsulation and a lipid shell. It was found that core-shell nanoparticles with a tunable size range between 30 and 90 nm and a narrow size distribution could be reproducibly manufactured. The results indicate that the lipid component (stearic acid) stabilizes the nanoparticles against collapse and aggregation and improves entrapment of active components, in this case vanillin, ethylmaltol and maltol. The overall structure of the nanoparticles produced was examined by multiple methods, including transmission electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, to confirm that they were of core-shell form.

In this work, nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide films with 0.001 mm thickness and 100 mm width have been prepared by stable cone-jet mode electrohydrodynamic atomization. The change in ammonium content in the sol varied the electrical conductivity and was used to obtain different nitrogen-doped titanium dioxide films. Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and UV/Vis spectroscopy were used to characterize as-deposited and annealed films. Raman spectra show the annealed films contained the anatase phase of TiO2 even at the higher concentration of nitrogen doping. UV/Vis spectra displayed a greater dip in transmittance in the visible light range consistent with the colour change of the films to yellow. The inclusion of nitrogen in the films expands the width of the localized states.