Formation and Thermal Stability of Gold-Silica Nanohybrids: Insight into the Mechanism and Morphology by Electron Tomography

Gold-silica hybrids are appealing in different fields of applications like catalysis, sensorics, drug delivery, and biotechnology. In most cases, the morphology and distribution of the heterounits play significant roles in their functional behavior. Methods of synthesizing these hybrids, with variable ordering of the heterounits, are replete; however, a complete characterization in three dimensions could not be achieved yet. A simple route to the synthesis of Au-decorated SiO2 spheres is demonstrated and a study on the 3D ordering of the heterounits by scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) tomography is presentedat the final stage, intermediate stages of formation, and after heating the hybrid. The final hybrid evolves from a soft self-assembled structure of Au nanoparticles. The hybrid shows good thermal stability up to 400 degrees C, beyond which the Au particles start migrating inside the SiO2 matrix. This study provides an insight in the formation mechanism and thermal stability of the structures which are crucial factors for designing and applying such hybrids in fields of catalysis and biotechnology. As the method is general, it can be applied to make similar hybrids based on SiO2 by tuning the reaction chemistry as needed.

Electrodeposition of Ag-Ni-Fe Nanowires

Present work provides an electrodeposition based methodology for synthesizing Ag-Ni-Fe nanowires. Nanowire morphology was achieved by using an anodic alumina membrane having cylindrical pores of similar to 200 nm diameter. Compositional analysis at a single nanowire level revealed a fairly uniform distribution of component elements in the nanowire volume. Structural characterization strongly indicated toward a presence of randomly oriented, non-equilibrium, nano-crystalline phase volume inside the nanowires. Magnetic characterization revealed a soft magnetic character for the as-synthesized Ag-Ni-Fe nanowires. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Fabrication and characterization of gold coated hollow silicon microneedle array for drug delivery

In this paper, we present the fabrication and characterization of Ti and Au coated hollow silicon microneedles for transdermal drug delivery applications. The hollow silicon microneedles are fabricated using isotropic etching followed by anisotropic etching to obtain a tapered tip. Silicon microneedle of 300 mu m in height, with 130 mu m outer diameter and 110 mu m inner diameter at the tip followed by 80 mu m inner diameter and 160 mu m outer diameter at the base have been fabricated. In order to improve the biocompatibility of microneedles, the fabricated microneedles were coated with Ti (500 nm) by sputtering technique followed by gold coating using electroplating. A breaking force of 225 N was obtained for the fabricated microneedles, which is 10 times higher than the skin resistive force. Hence, fabricated microneedles can easily be inserted inside the skin without breakage. The fluid flow through the microneedles was studied for different inlet pressures. A minimum inlet pressure of 0.66 kPa was required to achieve a flow rate of 50 mu l in 2 s with de-ionized water as a fluid medium. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and characterization of Ag-Co-Ni nanowires

This work provides an electrodeposition-based methodology for synthesizing multicomponent nanowires containing Ag, Co and Ni atoms. Nanowire morphology was obtained by using an anodic alumina membrane with cylindrical pores of similar to 200-nm diameter. Structural, compositional and magnetic characterization revealed that the as-synthesized nanowires adopted a core-shell microstructure. The core (axial region) contained pure Ag phase volumes with a plate-like morphology oriented perpendicular to the nanowire axis. The shell (peripheral region) contained pure Ag nanoparticles along with superparamagnetic Co and Ni rich clusters.

Electron microscopy of Ag-(Ni-O) core-shell nanowires

This report provides information about an electrodeposition based two-step synthesis methodology for producing core-shell Ag-(Ni-O) nanowires and their detailed structural and compositional characterization using electron microscopy technique. Nanowires were produced by employing anodic alumina templates with a pore diameter of 200 nm. In the first step of the synthesis process, nanocrystalline Ni-O was electrodeposited in a controlled manner such that it heterogeneously nucleated and grew only on the template pore walls without filling the pores from bottom upwards. This alumina template with pore walls coated with Ni-O was then utilized as a template during the electrodeposition of Ag in the second step. Electrodeposited Ag filled the template pores to finally produce Ag-(Ni-O) core-shell nanowires with an overall diameter of 200 nm.

Wrinkling of Atomic Planes in Ultrathin Au Nanowires

A detailed understanding of structure and stability of nanowires is critical for applications. Atomic resolution imaging of ultrathin single crystalline Au nanowires using aberration-corrected microscopy reveals an intriguing relaxation whereby the atoms in the close-packed atomic planes normal to the growth direction are displaced in the axial direction leading to wrinkling of the (111) atomic plane normal to the wire axis. First-principles calculations of the structure of such nanowires confirm this wrinkling phenomenon, whereby the close-packed planes relax to form saddle-like surfaces. Molecular dynamics studies of wires with varying diameters and different bounding surfaces point to the key role of surface stress on the relaxation process. Using continuum mechanics arguments, we show that the wrinkling arises due to anisotropy in the surface stresses and in the elastic response, along with the divergence of surface-induced bulk stress near the edges of a faceted structure. The observations provide new understanding on the equilibrium structure of nanoscale systems and could have important implications for applications in sensing and actuation.

Long range emission enhancement and anisotropy in coupled quantum dots induced by aligned gold nanoantenna

Quantum dot arrays have been projected as the material of choice for next generation displays and photodetectors. Extensive ongoing research aims at improving optical and electrical efficiencies of such devices. We report experimental results on non-local long range emission intensity enhancement and anisotropy in quantum dot assemblies induced by isolated and partially aligned gold nanoantennas. Spatially resolved photoluminescence clearly demonstrate that the effect is maximum, when the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance of the nanoantenna is resonant with the emission maxima of the quantum dots. We estimated the decay length of this enhancement to be similar to 2.6 mu m, which is considerably larger than the range of near field interaction of metal nanoantenna. Numerical simulations qualitatively capture the near field behavior of the nanorods but fail to match the experimentally observed non-local effects. We have suggested how strong interactions of quantum dots in the close packed assemblies, mediated by the nanoantennas, could lead to such observed behavior. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

An antioxidant nanozyme that uncovers the cytoprotective potential of vanadia nanowires

Nanomaterials with enzyme-like properties has attracted significant interest, although limited information is available on their biological activities in cells. Here we show that V2O5 nanowires (Vn) functionally mimic the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase by using cellular glutathione. Although bulk V2O5 is known to be toxic to the cells, the property is altered when converted into a nanomaterial form. The Vn nanozymes readily internalize into mammalian cells of multiple origin (kidney, neuronal, prostate, cervical) and exhibit robust enzyme-like activity by scavenging the reactive oxygen species when challenged against intrinsic and extrinsic oxidative stress. The Vn nanozymes fully restore the redox balance without perturbing the cellular antioxidant defense, thus providing an important cytoprotection for biomolecules against harmful oxidative damage. Based on our findings, we envision that biocompatible Vn nanowires can provide future therapeutic potential to prevent ageing, cardiac disorders and several neurological conditions, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

Synthesis and Electron Microscopy of Superalloy Nanowires

An electrodeposition based methodology for synthesizing Ni-Cr-Fe nanowires is provided. As-synthesized nanowires were 200 nm in diameter and more than 5 mu m in length. Detailed characterization of the nanowires using electron microscopy technique revealed an amorphous microstructure for the nanowires with uniform distribution of Ni, Fe and Cr atoms. Annealing of the nanowire using the electron beam inside electron microscope resulted in gradual crystallization of amorphous microstructure into a nanocrystalline one which illustrated the potential for microstructural engineering of the nanowires. (C) 2014 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.

Gold Catalyzed Plasma Assisted Growth of Germanium Nanoneedles

A systematic study of Gold catalyzed growth of Ge nanoneedles by PECVD at low temperatures (<400 degrees C) is presented. Morphology, growth rate and aspect ratio of the needles are studied as a function of power, gas flow rate and chamber pressure. Nanoneedles were grown at pre-defined positions with catalytic particles obtained by e-Beam Lithography and lift off. This opens up the possibility of using Ge Nano needles in photovoltaic, nanoelectronics and nanosensor device applications.

Room Temperature Growth of Ultrathin Au Nanowires with High Areal Density over Large Areas by in Situ Functionalization of Substrate

Although ultrathin Au nanowires (similar to 2 nm diameter) are expected to demonstrate several interesting properties, their extreme fragility has hampered their use in potential applications. One way to improve the stability is to grow them on substrates; however, there is no general method to grow these wires over large areas. The existing methods suffer from poor coverage and associated formation of larger nanoparticles on the substrate. Herein, we demonstrate a room temperature method for growth of these nanowires with high coverage over large areas by in situ functionalization of the substrate. Using control experiments, we demonstrate that an in situ functionalization of the substrate is the key step in controlling the areal density of the wires on the substrate. We show that this strategy works for a variety of substrates ranging like graphene, borosil glass, Kapton, and oxide supports. We present initial results on catalysis using the wires grown on alumina and silica beads and also extend the method to lithography-free device fabrication. This method is general and may be extended to grow ultrathin Au nanowires on a variety of substrates for other applications.

Tunable mechanical and thermal properties of ZnS/CdS core/shell nanowires

Using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we have studied the mechanical properties of ZnS/CdS core/shell nanowires. Our results show that the coating of a few-atomic-layer CdS shell on the ZnS nanowire leads to a significant change in the stiffness of the core/shell nanowires compared to the stiffness of pure ZnS nanowires. The binding energy between the core and shell region decreases due to the lattice mismatch at the core-shell interface. This reduction in binding energy plays an important role in determining the stiffness of a core/shell nanowire. We have also investigated the effects of the shell on the thermal conductivity and melting behavior of the nanowires.

A Gold Sensors Array for Imaging The Real Tissue Phantom in Electrical Impedance Tomography

Surface electrodes in Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) phantoms usually reduce the SNR of the boundary potential data due to their design and development errors. A novel gold sensors array with high geometric precision is developed for EIT phantoms to improve the resistivity image quality. Gold thin films are deposited on a flexible FR4 sheet using electro-deposition process to make a sixteen electrode array with electrodes of identical geometry. A real tissue gold electrode phantom is developed with chicken tissue paste and the fat cylinders as the inhomogeneity. Boundary data are collected using a USB based high speed data acquisition system in a LabVIEW platform for different inhomogeneity positions. Resistivity images are reconstructed using EIDORS and compared with identical stainless steel electrode systems. Image contrast parameters are calculated from the resistivity matrix and the reconstructed images are evaluated for both the phantoms. Image contrast and image resolution of resistivity images are improved with gold electrode array.

Nonequilibrium Microstructures for Ag-Ni Nanowires

This work illustrates that a variety of nanowire microstructures can be obtained either by controlling the nanowire formation kinetics or by suitable thermal processing of as-deposited nanowires with nonequilibrium metastable microstructure. In the present work, 200-nm diameter Ag-Ni nanowires with similar compositions, but with significantly different microstructures, were electrodeposited. A 15 mA deposition current produced nanowires in which Ag-rich crystalline nanoparticles were embedded in a Ni-rich amorphous matrix. A 3 mA deposition current produced nanowires in which an Ag-rich crystalline phase formed a backbone-like configuration in the axial region of the nanowire, whereas the peripheral region contained Ni-rich nanocrystalline and amorphous phases. Isothermal annealing of the nanowires illustrated a phase evolution pathway that was extremely sensitive to the initial nanowire microstructure.

Suppression of protein aggregation by gold nanoparticles: a new way to store and transport proteins

Suppression of the aggregation of proteins has tremendous implications in biology and medicine. In the pharmaceuticals industry, aggregation of therapeutically important proteins and peptides while stored, reduces the efficacy and promptness of action leading to, in many instances, intoxication of the patient by the aggregate. Here we report the effect of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) in preventing the thermal and chemical aggregation of two unrelated proteins of different size, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, 84 kDa) and insulin (6 kDa), respectively, in physiological pH. Our principal observation is that there is a significant reduction (up to 95%) in the extent of aggregation of ADH and insulin in the presence of gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs). Aggregation of these proteins at micromolar concentration is prevented using nanomolar or less amounts of gold nanoparticles which is remarkable since chaperones which prevent such aggregation in vivo are required in micromolar quantity. The prevention of aggregation of these two different proteins under two different denaturing environments has established the role of Au-NPs as a protein aggregation prevention agent. The extent of prevention increases rapidly with the increase in the size of the gold nanoparticles. Protein molecules get physisorbed on the gold nanoparticle surface and thus become inaccessible by the denaturing agent in solution. This adsorption of proteins on AuNPs has been established by a variety of techniques and assays.