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This work is the first to describe a bioimaging method that uses highly uniformly sized TiO(2) submicrometer and micrometer spheres based on Mie scattering. Transmembrane proteins (HER2) located on the surface of cancer cells were detected by bonded antibody-linked TiO(2) spheres using optic microscopy and UV-vis spectroscopy. A particular HER2 bond on cancer cells, which has a weaker binding affinity than the biotin/avidin interaction, can be identified between TiO(2) spheres that are linked to anti-HER2 antibodies and those that are linked to nonspecific mouse IgG antibodies by observing the cells under an optical microscope or by measuring absorbance from a UV-vis spectrum. The TiO(2) spheres used in this work was prepared by reacting TTIP with carboxylic acid, as described elsewhere and the uniformity of the TiO(2) sphere was further improved by adjusting the amount of water used. The water content was inversely related to particle size and the size distribution: as more water was used, smaller spheres with a narrower size distribution were obtained. The most uniform sphere obtained had a diameter of about 1 microm with a size variation of 3%.

Effects of pretreatment on the nuclei formation of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) on Si substrates were studied. Either precoating a thin layer of titanium (∼400 nm) or ultrasonication pretreatment using diamond and titanium mixed powder (D&T process) enhances the nucleation process on Si substrates markedly, and the UNCD nuclei formed and fully covered the Si substrate, when deposition was processed using the microwave-plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition process for 10 min. In contrast, during the same period, ultrasonication pretreatment using diamond powders (D process) can only form large UNCD clusters, which were scarcely distributed on Si substrates. The analyses using x-ray diffractometer, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis reveal that the titanium layer reacted with carbon species in the plasma, forming crystalline TiC phase, which facilitates the subsequent formation of UNCD nuclei. The beneficial effect of Ti layer on enhancing the nucleation of UNCD is presumably owing to high solubility and high diffusivity of carbon species in Ti materials, as compared with those of Si materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highly uniform hollow spheres were assembled from truncated rhomboid anatase TiO2 nanoparticles (HS), which were synthesized from the hydrothermal treatment of a NaF solution by using amorphous TiO2 spheres as a precursor and template. The submicron hollow spheres with highly photocatalytic active surfaces exhibited excellent photocatalytic behavior. In this investigation, the factors that enhanced the photocatalytic performance were examined in terms of light harvesting, photoefficiency, and reaction activity. The photocatalytic performance was increased by a factor of approximately 1.5 for the scattering structure of submicron hollow spheres than that of nanofragments of submicron hollow sphere powder. The rate constant of anatase TiO2 with specific photoactive surfaces at {0 0 1} and {1 0 1} was approximately six times higher than that of randomly exposed TiO2 particles. Furthermore, a heterogeneous mixture of the submicron hollow spheres and micro-sized anatase TiO2 (HS@micro-sized TiO2) prohibited electron-hole recombination in the catalyst during the degradation reaction. The rate constant for the heterojunction system was 3.4 times greater than that of the individual constituents. The rate constant for HS@micro-sized TiO2 ( k=0.175 min−1) was 1.8 times larger than that of commercial P25 ( k=0.099 min−1). HS@micro-sized TiO2 is a promising photocatalytic material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Nano-sized cubic Pb2Ti2O6 and monoclinic PbTi3O7 were obtained as the first stage products, by sol–gel process using anhydrous lead acetate and titanium(IV) isopropoxide as precursors; then, as the powder was heated, Pb2Ti2O6 gradually transformed to perovskite PbTiO3 around 673K. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Titanium oxide powder was prepared by hydrolyzing titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) in aqueous solutions at pH 2, using TMC and NP-204 as surfactants. The anatase phase was formed when the precipitants were dried at 373 K. When the calcination temperature was below 773 K, all the powders were crystalline in the anatase phase. The powders changed to the rutile phase when the calcination temperature exceeded 1173 K. The powder calcined at 673 K has spherical primary particles with diameters of approximately 8 nm. When the powders calcined at 673 K were heated in NaOH solutions of various concentrations at 423 K for 20 h, titanium oxide powders with different morphologies were obtained. After the powders were refluxed in 5 M NaOH solutions, flower-like titanium oxide particles were formed. Nanotubes of titanium oxide about 8 nm in diameter and over 600 nm long were obtained when the powders were refluxed in 10 M NaOH solution. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Enhanced effective photocatalyst! The cover picture shows the photodegradation of methylene blue by a heterogeneous mixture of highly uniform hollow spheres, assembled from truncated rhomboid anatase TiO2 nanoparticles and conventional micro‐sized TiO2. In their Full Paper on p. 1871 ff., C.‐Y. Lee et al. reveal the factors that enhanced the photocatalytic performance. The scattering structure enhanced the light harvesting, the heterojunction increased the photo‐efficiency, and the active surface, {1 0 1} and {0 0 1}, improved the reaction activity. The rate constant for methylene blue degradation by this catalyst was approximately twice that of commercial P25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) film is usually grown in methane–argon plasma unlike methane–hydrogen plasma conventionally used to deposit microcrystalline diamond film. The prenucleation and growth mechanism of these two types of diamond films are different as well. The present study introduces titanium metal powder during ultrasonication of silicon substrate to enhance the nucleation density of UNCD. A titanium thin film was also used at the interface to find the effect of metal on the growth of diamond film. The nucleation density of as-grown film was estimated from the FE-SEM images. After 20 min of growth, nucleation density reaches to 1011/cm2 on a surface pretreated by titanium mixed nanodiamond powder. Raman study was carried out for qualitative analysis of different carbon phase present in the UNCD films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to understand the growth mechanism by detecting the formation of carbon phase and metal carbide formation at the surface after stopping the growth at different time intervals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]