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The adhesion, proliferation, and migration of cells over nanomaterials is regulated by a cascade of biochemical signals that originate at the interface of a cell with a substrate and propagate through the cytoplasm to the nucleus. The topography of the substrate plays a major role in this process. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) have a characteristic size of some nanometers and a range of action of some tens of nanometers. Controlling details of a surface at the nanoscale—the same dimensional over which CAMs operate—offers ways to govern the behavior of cells and create organoids or tissues with heretofore unattainable precision. Here, using electrochemical procedures, we generated mesoporous silicon surfaces with different values of pore size (PS ≈ 11 nm and PS ≈ 21 nm), roughness (Ra ≈ 7 nm and Ra ≈ 13 nm), and fractal dimension (Df ≈ 2.48 and Df ≈ 2.15). Using electroless deposition, we deposited over these substrates thin layers of gold nanoparticles. Resulting devices feature (i) nanoscale details for the stimulation and control of cell assembly, (ii) arrays of pores for drug loading/release, (iii) layers of nanostructured gold for the enhancement of the electromagnetic signal in Raman spectroscopy (SERS). We then used these devices as cell culturing substrates. Upon loading with the anti-tumor drug PtCl (O,O′-acac)(DMSO) we examined the rate of adhesion and growth of breast cancer MCF-7 cells under the coincidental effects of surface geometry and drug release. Using confocal imaging and SERS spectroscopy we determined the relative importance of nano-topography and delivery of therapeutics on cell growth—and how an unbalance between these competing agents can accelerate the development of tumor cells.

In this paper, we report on the realization of photoanodes for dye sensitized solar cells based on composites of carbon nanotubes and titanium dioxide nanoparticles. Our results show the best photovoltaics performance for carbon nanotubes weight percentages between 0.2% and 0.4%. Photoanodes realized in three-layer configuration, TiO2/carbon nanotube/TiO2, show a cell efficiency of 10.5% and a fill factor of 70%, values 2.4 times greater with respect to that of classical TiO2 anode. The presence of carbon nanotubes enhances the charge transport, strongly reducing the electron/hole recombination in the anode bulk, while the double layer of TiO2 increases the dye adsorption limiting the reduction caused by the presence of carbon nanotubes.

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In this work, we illustrated a method for controlled growth of ZnSe/ZnS core/shell semiconductor and their insertion in a TiO 2 anatase bulk. Core/shell quantum dots were grown by Laser Ablation in Solution followed by heating and sonication phases. Shape and dimensions of nanoparticles were controlled by measurements of optical absorption during laser irradiation. The obtained quantum dots, with a ZnS core and a ZnSe shell and radius dimensions of about 12 nm, were spray-dried in film of anatase grains and characterized as photoanode for application on Graetzel cells. The efficiency of our hybrid photoanode is about 25% higher than classic organic dye/anatase.

In this work, we introduce a new method for the consolidation of ceramic artifacts using SiO2 and TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). We study the influence of NPs in the restoration process based on luminescence diagnostics and dating techniques. The nanoparticles were grown by laser ablation in solution and their shape and dimensions were monitored by optical absorption and AFM morphology studies. The colloidal solutions are mainly made of spherical nanoparticles with dimensions of about 10 and 15 nm following a LogNorm distribution with a standard deviation less than 1 nm. The colloidal solution was then deposed on pottery surfaces to obtain a transparent film with thickness of about 1 μm. All chemical and morphological analysis indicate that the NPs consolidate the artifact penetrating in the deeper surface layer and forming a transparent and hydrophobic film on the surface. The adsorption process is a typical physisorption mechanism without formation of chemical bonds between the NPs and the constitutive elements of ceramic and without introduction of external impurities, which can damage the materials. Finally, our results indicate a strong influence of NPs on the luminescence emission by the artifacts and then in the thermoluminescence dating process for restored ceramics.

We report here on the use of pulsed KrF-laser deposition technique (PLD) for the decoration of Multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by Co–Ni nanoparticles (NPs) to form highly efficient counter electrodes (CEs) for use in Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). By varying the number of laser ablation pulses (N LP = 500–60,000) of the KrF laser, we were able to control the average size of the Co–Ni NPs and the surface coverage of the MWCNTs by the nanoparticles. The PLD-based decoration of MWCNTs by Co–Ni NPs is shown to form novel counter electrodes, which significantly enhance the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the DSSCs. Indeed, the DSSCs based on the PLD-decorated Co–Ni counter electrodes (obtained at the optimal N LP = 40,000) are shown to exhibit a PCE value as high as 6.68%, with high short circuit current (J sc = 14.68 mA/cm2) and open circuit voltage (V oc = 0.63 V). This represents a PCE improvement of ~190% in comparison to the DSSCs with pristine MWCNTs (PCE = 2.3%) and ~7.4% PCE increase than that of the conventional DSSC made with a sputtered Platinum-based counter electrode. By systematically investigating the local nanostructure of the Co–Ni decorated CEs, we found that the Co–Ni NPs layer exhibits a porous cauliflower-like morphology, of which surface roughness (RMS) is N LP dependent. Interestingly, both PCE and roughness of the Co–Ni NPs layer are found to exhibit the same N LP dependence, with a maximum located around the optimal N LP value of 40,000. This enabled us to establish, for the first time, a linear correlation between the achieved PCE of DSSCs and the local roughness of their CEs decorated by Co–Ni NPs. Such a correlation highlights the importance of maximizing the surface area of the Co–Ni coated MWCNTs on the CEs to enhance the PCE of the DSSCs. Finally, Ultra-violet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (UPS) measurements revealed a significant decrease in the local work function (Φ) of Co–Ni NPs decorated MWCNTs based CEs (at N LP = 40,000, Φ = 3.9 eV) with respect to that of either pristine MWCNTs (Φ = 4.8 eV) or sputtered-Pt (Φ = 4.3 eV) counter-electrodes. This Φ lowering of the Co–Ni/MWCNTs based CEs is an additional advantage to enhance the catalytic reaction of the redox couple of the electrolyte solution, and improve thereby the PCE of the DSSCs.

In this work, we present the growth and optical characterization of carbon nanotube/TiO2 anatase nanocomposites. The composites are obtained by doping a bulk of anatase nanometric grains with different weight percentages of carbon nanotube (from 0.1% to 50%). We observe that only for tube concentrations between 0.1% and 2%, the growth process shows the formation of a matrix where carbon nanotubes are uniformed and dispersed in a bulk of TiO2 grains. Moreover, the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and surface morphology analysis (conducted from AFM images) indicated that the CNT absorption is a simple physisorption without chemical bonds formations between tube and dioxide. Finally, absorption in all the visible range has the increase of about 60% at very low concentration (2%) of carbon nanotubes.

Membrane emulsification is a promising technology for the production of micro nano particles, which is able to compete with the conventional mechanical emulsification processes. The production of emulsions with narrow droplet size distribution at dispersed phase fluxes (productivity) sufficiently high to make the process suitable for industrial application is still a considerable challenge. The interfacial tension between the dispersed phase and the membrane pore wall is a crucial parameter to maintain droplets shape while enhancing productivity. In the present paper, a membrane thickness with asymmetric properties in terms of wettability between external and internal sides has been tested in the preparation of W/O emulsions. The membrane surface wettability modification was obtained by adsorption of hydrophobic macromolecules on the lumen side of hydrophilic membrane. Lipase was used as a model macromolecule. W/O emulsion droplets with smaller droplets size have been produced with lipase-loaded membrane compared with the unmodified hydrophilic membrane. High dispersed phase flux of 30 L h(-1) m(-2) was also obtained with a significant increase of process productivity compared to the use of hydrophobic membranes. These results show that membrane-protein interaction can be used to functionalize opportunely the membrane for membrane emulsification application reducing emulsification time and increasing dispersed phase flux without modifying the control on droplets properties in terms of size and size distribution. (C) 2014 Elsevier BY. All rights reserved.