Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

Scientists at the University College London, UK, have developed a combinatorial aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition technique to deposit gallium-doped indium oxide thin films. The oxide films were deposited within composition graduated films from the aerosol-assisted CVD of GaMe₃, InMe₃ and HOCH₂CH₂OMe. The team behind the research say that this is the first time that a combinatorial aerosol-assisted CVD method has been described. The method provides a rapid route to investigate the effect of a dopant on the functional properties of a wide range of materials and since it is a solution-based technique, films with a range of compositions could be deposited even if volatile precursors are not available.

Read for Free until 15th August: Caroline E. Knapp, Andreas Kafizas, Ivan P. Parkin and Claire J. Carmalt, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11606A, Advance Article

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Polyurethane microcapsules containing hexamethylene diisocyanate form a one-part self-healing anticorrosion coating. 

Read the full article for free until 9th August: Mingxing Huang and Jinglei Yang, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10794A, Advance Article

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Feature Article: Chemically induced self-assembly of spherical and anisotropic inorganic nanocrystals: In this review Dmitry Baranov, Liberato Manna and Antonios G. Kanaras discuss the self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes induced by the active manipulation of nanoparticle surfaces. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11599E Advance Article)

Feature Article: Pt-based composite nanoparticles for magnetic, catalytic, and biomedical applications: This hot review by Yi Liu, Dongguo Li and Shouheng Sun highlights the recent advances in synthesizing Pt-based alloy and core–shell nanoparticles for magnetic, catalytic, and biomedical applications. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11605C, Advance Article)

Feature Article: Emerging functional nanomaterials for therapeutics: This feature article showcases some of the recent therapeutic applications involving some representative nanomaterials as drug carriers or direct therapeutic modalities. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11401H, Advance Article)

Feature Article: Fabrication of functional colloidal photonic crystals based on well-designed latex particles: This review by Youzhuan Zhang, Jingxia Wang, Yu Huang, Yanlin Song and Lei Jiang presents the recent research progress on the fabrication of functional colloidal crystals with high mechanical strength, controllable wettability, anisotropic structure or large scale, based on well-designed latex particles.  (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM10977D)  

Read all the Feature Articles for Free until 9th August 2011

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Patterned fluorescence films with reversible thermal response based on the host–guest superarchitecture: A patterned fluorescence film that shows reversible thermal and fluorescent behaviour in the temperature range 20–130 °C has been created by a team at the Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China. The team say that the transformation of an organic chromophore from irreversible to reversible thermal response material upon incorporation into a 2D layered matrix is the most distinct feature in this work. Combining the patterning technique with the thermal responsive photoluminescence nature of the chromophore–layered double hydroxide composites could be applicable to the development of a wide selection of intelligent devices and display systems. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, DOI: 10.1039/C1JM11249J, Advance Article)

Tailoring hybrid glyco-nanolayers composed of chitohexaose and cellohexaose for cell culture applications: In this Hot Paper, Yuka Yoshiike and Takuya Kitaoka from Kyushu University, Japan, show that human carcinoma cells can adhere to self-assembled hybrid nanolayers of chitohexaose–thiosemicarbazide and cellohexaose–thiosemicarbazide. The surface density of bioactive chitohexaose is a key factor in cell adhesion efficiency, morphological variation and some cellular responses. Yoshiike and Kitaoka say that the Architectural design of carbohydrate-based hybrid nanolayers via the vectorial chain immobilization method is expected to provide a new concept for the functional development of glyco-decorated biointerfaces. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C1JM11448D)

Superparamagnetic magnetite nanocrystal clusters as potential magnetic carriers for the delivery of platinum anticancer drugs: A magnetic drug carrier that can increase the cellular uptake of platinum drugs while maintaining the inherent cytotoxicity of the drug cargo has been developed by Chinese scientists. The drug carrier is based on superparamagnetic magnetite nanocrystal clusters modified by carboxymethylcellulose and is conjugated to the anit-cancer drug cisplatin. The advantages of this drug delivery system include the simplicity of preparation, multifunctionality of the particles, and high loading capacity of the carrier. The team led by Zijian Guo at Nanjing University, China, say that this approach may be further developed into a promising strategy for targeted delivery of other drugs or biofunctional molecules. (J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article DOI:10.1039/C1JM11369K)

Read all three articles for free until 1st August

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