Search

Developing new electrode materials with a high specific capacity for excellent lithium-ion storage properties is very desirable. The MnCO3/Mn3O4 nanoparticles with uniform size (about 50 nm) and shape which are wrapped with graphene have been successfully synthesized via the one-step method for anode material of lithium-ion batteries. The as-prepared graphene-wrapped MnCO3/Mn3O4 nanocomposite exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance, including high reversible specific capacity, outstanding cycling stability, and excellent rate capability in comparison with the bare MnCO3 and MnCO3/Mn3O4 nanocomposite. This is because the synergistic effect of MnCO3 and Mn3O4 nanoparticles and graphene nanosheets act as both electron conductors and volume buffer layers. From the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, we confirmed that the morphology and structure of the composite are preserved after 200 cycles. This further confirms that graphene-wrapped MnCO3/Mn3O4 nanocomposite acts as a stable template for reversible lithium-ion intercalation/deintercalation.

Herein, we have designed and synthesized a series of MnOx/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts via a one-step heat treatment method using a mixture of melamine and manganese acetate precursors. The as-prepared MnOx/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts show high photocatalytic H2 production activity, and an optimal loading of 1.8[Formula: see text]wt.% MnOx can enhance the H2 production by approximately 2.7 times than that with pure g-C3N4. The high photocatalytic H2-production activity can be attributed to the hole trapping and absorbing ability of the MnOx cocatalyst, which can significantly inhibit the recombination rate of the photogenerated electrons and holes. This work not only shows a simple way to enhance the photocatalytic H2-production activity of g-C3N4 but also demonstrates that MnOx can be used as an efficient and low-cost cocatalyst for the photocatalytic production of H2.

Objectives This study aimed to investigate the effect of the widely used food emulsifier glycerin monostearate (GM) on testicular toxicity caused by the mixture of three commonly used phthalate esters (MPEs) in rats, and further to explore the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods Thirty male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups. Rats were orally treated with 160 mg/kg/d MPEs in the MPEs group; coinstantaneously treated with 160 mg/kg/d MPEs and 200 mg/kg/d GM in the MPEs + GM group; and treated with the excipient in the control group. The intervention lasted for 5 weeks. Testis weight, epididymis weight, testicular histopathology, and serum testosterone were detected for testicular toxicity evaluation. The testicular ultrastructure, the tight junction proteins zonula occluden (ZO)-1, and claudin were measured for the mechanism exploration. Results The body weight, epididymis, serum testosterone level, and anogenital distance in the MPEs + GM group were significantly decreased compared with control group (P Conclusions The results from this study indicated that GM aggravated MPEs’ testicular toxicity, which might relate to the injured mitochondria and damaged tight junctions in testicular tissue.

A pressure-assisted arc discharge method of preparing silicon microbubbles with a glass tube was utilized for decreasing the bubble film&rsquo, s thickness and improving the bubble&rsquo, s uniformity. By controlling the arc discharge intensity, discharge time and the position of the fiber carefully, the thickness of the microbubble film was reduced to the micrometer scale. Later, the thin film of the microbubble was transferred to the end the single-mode-fiber/glass-tube structure, for forming the FP (Fabry&ndash, Perot) interference cavity. As the thin film is sensitive to the outer pressure, such a configuration could be used for a high-sensitive-pressure measurement. Experimental results show that the sensitivity of this FP (Fabry&ndash, Perot) cavity was 6790 pm/MPa when the outer pressure ranges from 100 to 1600 kPa, and the relationship between the structural parameters of the thin film and the outer pressure was theoretically analyzed. Moreover, this special structure made of the end silicon film microbubble is more suitable for high-sensitivity applications.

The oxidation behavior of an equimolar Cr-Mn-Fe-Co high-entropy alloy (HEA) processed by 3D laser printing was investigated at 700 °C and 900 °C. The oxidation kinetics of the alloy followed the parabolic rate law, and the oxidation rate constant increased with the rising of the temperature. Inward diffusion of oxygen and outward diffusion of cations took place during the high-temperature oxidation process. A spinel-type oxide was formed on the surface, and the thickness of the oxide layer increased with the rising of experimental temperature or time. The exfoliation of the oxide layer took place when the test was operated at 900 °C over 12 h. During oxidation tests, the matrix was propped open by oxides and was segmented into small pieces. The formation of loose structures had great effects on the high-temperature oxidation resistance of the HEA.

Chinese sprangletop (Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees) is a serious grass weed in rice paddies. In some areas, L. chinensis has become resistant to the herbicide cyhalofop-butyl because of its frequent and extensive use over the past five years. In this study, whole-plant dose-response assays were conducted, and a L. chinensis population (ZHYH) had a 75.8-fold resistance index to cyhalofop-butyl. Molecular analyses revealed that this resistance was attributed to a tryptophan (Trp)-2027-to-cysteine (Cys) substitution in the CT domain of the ACCase gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report revealing the mechanism underlying cyhalofop-butyl resistance in L. chinensis. Furthermore, a derived cleaved amplified polymorphic (dCAPS) assay was developed to rapidly detect the Trp-2027-Cys mutation. Of the 100 ZHYH plants analyzed, 52 were heterozygous mutants and 48 were susceptible homozygous plants. In addition, the cyhalofop-butyl-resistant L. chinensis was cross-resistant to aryloxyphenoxypropionate and phenylpyrazoline herbicides, but not to cyclohexanedione, acetolactate synthase-inhibiting, protoporphyrinogen oxidase, and urea herbicides, and had only slight resistance to the hormonal herbicide quinclorac.

In this contribution, we propose and demonstrate a scalable and reproducible process to fabricate nano-sized functional particles and integrate them in microelectromechanical systems. We use a wet-chemistry approach for nanoparticle synthesis in combination with inkjet printing as a production process for metal oxide based gas sensors. This method enables control over size and shape of the nanoparticles as well as an ordered and reproducible deposition of a monolayer of particles onto arbitrary microstructures. Here we present results obtained using copper oxide nanoparticles as well as their synthesis and material characterization. A total of 14 layers has been produced and the baseline resistivity as well as the gas sensitive response towards oxygen, humidity and nitrogen dioxide of each layer has been determined.

The working temperature of pellistors using 3-dimensional mesoporous Co 3 O 4 (meso-Co 3 O 4 ) supported Au-Pd, Au-Pd@meso-Co 3 O 4 , is significantly reduced to 300 °C, thereby avoiding possible catalytic poisoning at high temperatures inherent in conventional pellistors. Our results indicate that meso-Co 3 O 4 has a great advantage over the commercially available Co 3 O 4 with respect to sensing performance. The coverage of Au-Pd on Co 3 O 4 influences the sensor behavior. Besides, the number of deposited layers has an impact on the pellistor performance. 15-layer-deposition of Au-Pd@meso-Co 3 O 4 delivers the best result. This development towards a decreased working temperature can be anticipated as the new concept to design robust pellistors with low power consumption.

Geological prediction models for gas content in marine–terrigenous shale under the effects of reservoir characteristics and in situ geological conditions, were established using methane isothermal adsorption, high temperature/pressure methane isothermal adsorption, total organic carbon, X-ray diffraction, mercury porosimetry, porosity in net confining stress, and field desorption methods. Results indicated that the adsorption capacity of marine–terrigenous shale has a linearly positive correlation with total organic carbon content and maturity. Clay and quartz minerals are the two main components of inorganic minerals in marine–terrigenous shale, with an average content of 54.3% and 36.9%, respectively. Adsorption capacity of marine–terrigenous shale is slightly positive correlated with clay content, while it exponentially decreases with increasing quartz content. The effects of in situ temperature and reservoir pressure on adsorption capacity in marine–terrigenous shale are also significant. The adsorption capacity of marine–terrigenous shale shows a clear decreasing trend as temperature increases, while it increases with increasing reservoir pressure. The porosity of marine–terrigenous shale is characterized by highly stress-sensitive, decreasing exponentially with increasing effective stress, which results in a more complex occurrence of free gas in deep shale reservoirs. In addition, gas saturation for the shale samples was calculated based on the results of field desorption, after which geological prediction models of total gas, adsorbed gas, and free gas were established while considering the coupled effects. Adsorbed gas, free gas, and total gas content all initially increase as burial depth increases, and then eventually decrease. Adsorbed gas content and free gas content have a positive correlation with total organic carbon content and porosity, indicating that the total gas content at different burial depths is mainly controlled by the total organic carbon content and porosity.

A novel method that taking electrodeposited copper foil as a raw material undergoes asynchronous rolling and surface morphology modification at room temperature was proposed, and the rolled electrodeposited (RE) copper foil with excellent mechanical properties and modified surface morphology was obtained to be used as the anode current collector of high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The surface roughness of RE copper foil (Ra = 1.8 μm) is significantly higher than that of the traditional electrodeposited copper foil (Ra = 0.22 μm) when the thickness is 6 μm. The hilly surface morphology of RE copper foil helps to enhance the interfacial adhesion between current collector and active material, which contributes to the reduction of charge transfer resistance and improvement of specific capacity and rate performance. The mechanical properties of RE copper foil are significantly improved after asynchronous rolling. The excellent mechanical properties of RE copper foil current collector can maintain good electrical contact integrity of electrode active material during lithiation-de-lithiation and significantly improve the cycle life. The discharge capacity of RE electrode is maintained at 329.6 mAh g−1 and exhibits 91.1% capacity retention for 200 cycles at 500 mAg−1, which is much higher than the electrodes with electrodeposited and rolled copper foils as the current collector.

In order to look for the best proportion of β-tricalcium phosphate(β-TCP) and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) we fabricated porous composites β-TCP/PLGA scaffold using freeze-drying method. Morphological characterization using scanning electron microscopy showed that the interconnected pore distribution was even and there was no significant difference with the increase of PLGA content. Moreover, the porosity, compressive strength and degradation in vitro were characterized. The fabricated scaffolds with increased PLGA in the composites β-TCP/PLGA scaffolds will get stronger mechanical property and better appearance, furthermore, get suitable environment for cells. According to the evaluation indexes for the tissue engineering scaffold, the group of scaffold (β-TCP/PLGA=6:4) was selected to evaluate the induced cell adhesion and proliferative ability of the scaffolds. Then as transplant embed into the bone critical defect sites on rats femur. The repairing processes of bone defect sites were characterized by X-ray analysis within 12 weeks. X-ray analysis showed that the bone defect sites all displayed the formation of callus obviously, In summary, our data suggest that the scaffold (β-TCP/PLGA=6:4) has a promising clinical future in regeneration of bone critical defects.

Therapeutic options for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated post-transplantation lymphoproliferative diseases (PTLD) are currently limited, accompanying with some off-target toxicities. We previously demonstrated that early recovery of Vδ2+ T cells inversely correlated to EBV reactivation after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Studies in vitro and in the mouse models showed the cytotoxic activity of Vδ2+ T cells on EBV-transformed lymphoproliferative cells, but the efficacy was moderate. Bisphosphonate, such as pamidronate (PAM), have been reported as a sensitizer to trigger tumor cells for Vδ2+ T cells recognition. Valproic acid (VPA) has attracted attentions due to its adjuvant anti-tumor effect with chemotherapy or immunotherapy. Whether PAM and VPA facilitate the immunogenicity of EBV-infected cells towards Vδ2+ T cells cytotoxicity remains unknown. Herein, we demonstrated that lower dosage of VPA and/or PAM did not induce apoptosis of EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell lines (EBV-LCLs) or Vδ2+ T cells. Notably, pre-treatment with PAM significantly increased the cell death of EBV-LCLs after co-culture with Vδ2+ T cells at different ratios. Combining treatment with VPA reinforced the sensitizing effect of PAM. This efficacy was through inducing the accumulation of mevalonate pathway intermediates and dependent on the γδ T cell receptor of Vδ2+ T cells. Similar sensitizing effects of PAM and PAM plus VPA were also demonstrated on the primary PTLD cells. These results highlight the roles of PAM and VPA in the enhancement of immune surveillance and expand the fields of these two drugs in the treatment of different types of malignancies.

As two typical silicon source carrier, the features of diatomite and Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 (SBA-15) supported Mn-based sorbents for moderate-temperature flue gas desulfurization are investigated in this paper. The framework structure, high mechanical strength and large density of diatomite make great contributions to the high desulfurization efficiency (96%) of diatomite supported Mn-based sorbents (MxDy). Nevertheless, the excessive Mn doping (50 wt%) exhibits the decline in desulfurization efficiency, resulting from the self-seeding nucleation and the bareness of micro-pores. Compared to M4D6, the dispersion of active component on the surface of SBA-15 is much more uniform and the sulfur capacity of SBA-15 supported Mn-based sorbent (M4S6) is sharply increased from 186 mg/g to 494 mg/g. On the other hand, the small density of SBA-15 and formation of some bare micro-regions of Mn2O3 in M4S6 lead to the weak contact between SO2 molecule and the active component on the surface of sorbent, as well as the decrease of desulfurization efficiency of M4S6 (88%). Further, the desulfurization mechanism of M4D6 and M4S6 is explored through analyzing the chemical reaction, external mass transfer and internal diffusion. The modular Mn/diatomite-SBA sorbents are developed by combining the advantages of M4D6 and M4S6. When the weight ratio of M4D6 and M4S6 reaches 3:2, the SO2 removal efficiency of modular sorbent and sulfur capacity can reach 96% and 366 mg/g, respectively.

There has been long-standing interest in developing metal oxide-based sensors with high sensitivity, selectivity, fast response and low material consumption. Here we report for the first time the utilization of Cu2O@PNIPAM core–shell microgels with a nanocube-shaped core structure for construction of novel CuO gas sensing layers. The hybrid microgels show significant improvement in colloidal stability as compared to native Cu2O nanocubes. Consequently, a homogeneous thin film of Cu2O@PNIPAM nanoparticles can be engineered in a quite low solid content (1.5 wt%) by inkjet printing of the dispersion at an optimized viscosity and surface tension. Most importantly, thermal treatment of the Cu2O@PNIPAM microgels forms porous CuO nanocubes, which show much faster response to relevant trace NO2 gases than sensors produced from bare Cu2O nanocubes. This outcome is due to the fact that the PNIPAM shell can successfully hinder the aggregation of CuO nanoparticles during pyrolysis, which enables full utilization of the sensor layers and better access of the gas to active sites. These results point out great potential of such an innovative system as gas sensors with low cost, fast response and high sensitivit, H. J. gratefully acknowledges financial support of the CSC scholarship. S. P. acknowledges funding from the Community of Madrid under grant number 2016-T1/AMB-1695 .

Al + Fe2O3 + BaO2 and NaNO3 as the reactive system and the foaming agent, respectively, are used to prepare barium ferrite hollow microspheres (BFHMs) by self-reactive quenching technology based on flame spraying technology, self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) technology and quick chilling technology. Effects of NaNO3 on the particle size, morphology, phase structure and microwave absorption properties of BFHMs are investigated through SEM, XRD, particle size analyzer, high-speed camera and vector network analyzer. The results show that, after adding 10 wt.% NaNO3, the average particle size of BFHMs decreases initially from 28 μm to 6 μm, as well as the particle distribution gets narrower. Micro-nano lamellar crystals appear on the surface of BFHMs, with the dimension ranging from 500 nm to 2 μm. BaFe2O4 and Fe3O4, which have spinel structures, can be seen in XRD, and they are beneficial for microwave absorption properties. The real part (ɛ′), imaginary part (ɛ″) of permittivity, and the imaginary part of permeability (μ″) increases in 0.5–18 GHz. The real part (μ′) of permeability increases in 0.5–10.3 GHz, while decreases in 10.3–18 GHz. The microwave absorption properties are improved greatly, and the minimum reflectivity decreases from −3.1 dB to −9.8 dB. The reasons for improvement of microwave absorption properties after adding NaNO3 foaming agent may be the decreasing of the particle size of BFHMs, the appearance of ferrites (BaFe2O4 and Fe3O4) with spinel structure and special micro-nano tabular crystals. Magnetoplumbite-type barium ferrites (BaFe12O19) hollow microspheres are obtained after heat-treatment and the microwave absorption properties are further improved.

The monitoring of hydrogen sulfide in biogas is crucial due to its highly corrosive properties. Most notably, the lifetime of heat and power generation machinery suffers from high levels of hydrogen sulfide. Here an approach to enable large-scale, low cost deployment of selective, quasi-continuous hydrogen sulfide detection systems is presented. A chip featuring three individually controllable hotplates has been developed for this purpose. Each hotplate device consists of a heating structure and an interdigitated electrode structure, which we use to control the temperature and determine the resistivity of copper(II)oxide nanospheres, respectively. The fundamental process to determine the hydrogen sulfide concentration is based on a phase transition that occurs in the temperature regime below 200°C. The transition process may be reversed at temperatures above 300°C thus resetting the sensing layer. However, the reversal takes times, which is why we use a total of six hotplates simultaneously to enable a quasi-continuous monitoring of the hydrogen sulfide concentration.

The gas sensing properties of functional metal oxide layers depend on multitude parameters, including vacancy concentration, layer morphology and thickness, size and shape of the nano/microstructure, and porosity. Using colloidal tin oxide inks we demonstrate a layer by layer deposition technique to control the thickness and composition of gas sensitive layers. To do this we combine inkjet-printing with colloidal suspensions of SnO2 particles to provide a scalable method to interface microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with nano particles. The approach may pave the way towards an industry ready integration technique to incorporate gas sensitive quantum dots or hybrid nanomaterials in arbitrary sensing devices.

Treatment options for recurrent or progressive hormone receptor-positive (HR+) advanced breast cancer include chemotherapy and everolimus plus exemestane (EVE + EXE). This study estimates the costs of managing adverse events (AEs) during EVE + EXE therapy and single-agent chemotherapy in Western Europe.An economic model was developed to estimate the per patient cost of managing grade 3/4 AEs for patients who were treated with EVE + EXE or chemotherapies. AE rates for patients receiving EVE + EXE were collected from the phase III BOLERO-2 trial. AE rates for single-agent chemotherapy, capecitabine, docetaxel, or doxorubicin were collected from published clinical trial data. AEs with at least 2% prevalence for any of the treatments were included in the model. A literature search was conducted to obtain costs of managing each AE, which were then averaged across Western European countries (when available). Per patient costs for managing AEs among patients receiving different therapies were reported in 2012 euros (€).The EVE + EXE combination had the lowest average per patient cost of managing AEs (€730) compared to all chemotherapies during the first year of treatment (doxorubicin: €1230; capecitabine: €1721; docetaxel: €2390). The most costly adverse event among all patients treated with EVE + EXE was anemia (on average €152 per patient). The most costly adverse event among all patients treated with capecitabine, docetaxel, or doxorubicin was lymphocytopenia (€861 per patient), neutropenia (€821 per patient), and leukopenia (€382 per patient), respectively.The current model estimates that AE management during the treatment of HR+ advanced breast cancer will cost one-half to one-third less for EVE + EXE patients than for chemotherapy patients. The consideration of AE costs could have important implications in the context of healthcare spending for advanced breast cancer treatment.

Micro-arc oxidation films are fabricated on the surface of AZ31B magnesium alloy in the Na 2 SiO 3 electrolyte. The mechanical performance of magnesium alloy bonding with the adhesive is examined by single lap-shear test, and the morphology and composition of the oxidation film are characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The data indicate that the increase of Na 2 SiO 3 solution concentration results in the decrease of bonding strength of magnesium alloy joints, while the porosity has no directly relation with the variation of the lap-shear strength. The results also show that Na 2 SiO 3 participates into the film formation and the fabricated film is mainly composed of MgO and Mg 2 SiO 4 . In particular, with the increase of Na 2 SiO 3 solution concentration, the content of MgO decreased while that of Mg 2 SiO 4 increased. Moreover, MgO could initiate the formation of the hydroxyl group, which potentially enhances surface wettability and hydrogen bonding with the adhesive. This rationale is strongly supported by the results of Fourier Transform infrared spectra (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measuring.

Reduced graphene oxide has been extensively used as reinforcing agent owing to their high mechanical properties. In this work, an attempt is made to synthesize steel clad copper rod reinforced with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) by the combination of powder-in-tube and intermediate annealing (IA). Experiments show that the Fe/RGO/Cu composites manifest better mechanical properties than Fe/Cu composites. In the process of groove rolling, RGO acts as effective binder, which can greatly improve the adhesive strength of copper scrap and two metals. Moreover, the strengthening effect of RGO is tightly related to its dispersion state. The RGO diffuses much more uniformly on the metallic substrate under the IA temperature of 1100 °C than 800 °C, which can be characterized by less deformation twins appearing at the interface of core copper and the formation of Fe–RGO–Cu transition belt at the bonding interface. In this case, the peak hardness, tensile strength and shear strength of Fe/RGO/Cu composites are 52 HV, 125 and 41 MPa higher than those of the Fe/Cu composites, respectively. The difference of strengthening effect and mechanisms of RGO under 800 and 1100 °C of IA are systematically discussed by referring to experimental results.

Non-target site resistance (NTSR) to herbicides is an increasing concern for weed control. Metabolic herbicide resistance is an important mechanism for NTSR. However, little is known about metabolic resistance at the genetic level. In this study, we have identified three fenoxaprop-P-ethyl-resistant American sloughgrass (Beckmannia syzigachne Steud.) populations, in which the molecular basis for NTSR remains unclear. To reveal the mechanisms of metabolic resistance, the genes likely to be involved in herbicide metabolism (e.g. for cytochrome P450s, esterases, hydrolases, oxidases, peroxidases, glutathione S-transferases, glycosyltransferases, and transporter proteins) were isolated using transcriptome sequencing, in combination with RT-PCR (reverse transcription-PCR) and RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends). Consequently, we established a herbicide-metabolizing enzyme library containing at least 332 genes, and each of these genes was cloned and the sequence and the expression level compared between the fenoxaprop-P-ethyl-resistant and susceptible populations. Fifteen metabolic enzyme genes were found to be possibly involved in fenoxaprop-P-ethyl resistance. In addition, we found five metabolizing enzyme genes that have a different gene sequence in plants of susceptible versus resistant B. syzigachne populations. These genes may be major candidates for herbicide metabolic resistance. This established metabolic enzyme library represents an important step forward towards a better understanding of herbicide metabolism and metabolic resistance in this and possibly other closely related weed species. This new information may help to understand weed metabolic resistance and to develop novel strategies of weed management.

Tellurium (Te) nanorods have been successfully aligned on a solid substrate via a magnetization-alignment-demagnetization ("MAD") process in the presence of an external magnetic field. Te nanorods carrying a poly(tert-butyl methacrylate) shell were first converted into magnetic nanocylinders by assembling magnetite nanoparticles on their surface via a hydrophobic interaction in THF. We demonstrate that, below a critical concentration of the nanoparticles, this assembly process is able to quantitatively tune the magnetite nanoparticles' density on the nanorods in terms of their stoichiometric ratio. Due to the polymer and surfactant on their surface, the formed magnetic nanocylinders are soluble in THF and aligned when dried on a solid substrate in the presence of an external magnetic field. The demagnetization of the prealigned nanocylinders was achieved via an acid-etching process, leaving Te nanorods in an aligned state. This MAD process can be extended as a general procedure for other nonmagnetic 1-D nanostructures. Additionally, the nonetched magnetic nanocylinders can be potentially applied in field of magnetorheology.

V2O5 nanofibers and three vanadium-based oxides with different structures (MnV2O6 nanosheets, FeVO4·0.92H2O nanoneedles, and Sn2VO6·0.78H2O nanoparticles) were synthesized via a hydrothermal method. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, and electron energy loss spectroscopy were employed to characterize their morphologies and crystal structures. Electrochemical tests in rechargeable lithium batteries show that among these vanadium-based oxides Sn2VO6·0.78H2O nanoparticles exhibit the highest capacity, more than 1700 mAh g−1, and can keep good capacity retention. The magnetic properties of MnV2O6 nanosheets and FeVO4·0.92H2O nanoneedles were also investigated.

A novel, easy and high-efficient method is described for transferring hydrophobic magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles from organic to aqueous solution by wrapping a thermo-responsive and photocrosslinkable poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm) terpolymer around the particles. The wrapping procedure is introduced by the co-nonsolvent transition of PNIPAm in the mixing solvent and the polymer can dissolve in water carrying Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles by noncovalent interaction. The temperature-dependant and magnetic properties of the water-soluble particles are characterized in this paper.

Ni@Fe2O3 heterodimer nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by thermal decomposition of organometallic reactants. After functionalization, these Ni@Fe2O3 heterodimers became water soluble. The pristine heterodimeric NPs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. A special advantage of the heterodimers lies in the fact that nanodomains of different composition can be used as catalysts for the removal of environmentally hazardous halogenated pollutants.

Magnetic nanocrystals are of great interest for a fundamental understanding of nanomagnetism and for their technological applications. CuxFe3−xO4 nanocrystals (x ≈ 0.32) with sizes ranging between 5 and 7 nm were synthesized starting from Cu(HCOO)2 and Fe(CO)5 using oleic acid and oleylamine as surfactants. The nanocrystals were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron diffraction (ED), magnetization studies and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The CuxFe3−xO4 particles are superparamagnetic at room temperature 300 K with a saturation magnetization of 30.5 emu g−1. Below their blocking temperature of 60 K, they become ferrimagnetic, and at 5 K they show a coercive field of 122 Oe and a saturation magnetization of 36.1 emu g−1. The CuxFe3−xO4 nanoparticles were functionalized using a hydrophilic multifunctional polymeric ligand containing PEG(800) groups and a fluorophore. By virtue of their magnetic properties these nanoparticles may serve as contrast enhancing agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Cu@Fe3O4 heteroparticles with distinct morphologies were synthesized from organometallic reactants. The shape of the magnetic domains could be controlled by the solvent and reaction conditions. They display magnetic and optical properties that are useful for simultaneous magnetic and optical detection. After functionalization, the Cu@Fe3O4 heterodimers become water soluble. The morphology, structure, magnetic and optical properties of the as-synthesized heterodimer nanoparticles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), mossbauer spectroscopy, superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, and dark field imaging. A special advantage of these heterodimers lies in the fact that the nanodomains of different composition can be used e.g. for the formation of nitric oxide (NO) through the Cu domain and heterodimer nanoparticles can be removed from the reaction mixture by means of the magnetic domain (Fe3O4).

Graphitically encapsulated cobalt nanocrystal assemblies are chemically prepared by one-pot reaction at380 degrees C followed by a reversed etching process to produce porous graphitic structure for revealing their self-assembling nature.