Colourful metal detection

24 Sep 2012

The sensor changes from red to blue with an increasing mercury concentration

Scientists in China have developed a sensor that can indicate the presence of heavy metal ions in a sample with a simple colour change.

Heavy metal ions such as mercury and lead are persistent pollutants in the environment and can cause severe health problems. Routine sampling of water sources is vital to evaluate the levels of toxic metals.

Current detection techniques involve the use of expensive equipment, require skilled technicians and are time consuming. A range of research has looked at developing detection techniques for in-field use and recently, interest has been focused on using aptamers. Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA molecules that have been shown to reversibly bind with mercury and lead. Several sensors have been developed that incorporate aptamers but most have required complex labelling or detection techniques.

Read the full article in Chemistry World

Link to journal article
Colorimetric photonic hydrogel aptasensor for the screening of heavy metal ions
Bao-Fen Ye , Yuan-Jin Zhao , Yao Cheng , Ting-Ting Li , Zhuo-Ying Xie , Xiang-Wei Zhao and Zhong-Ze Gu
Nanoscale, 2012,4, 5998-6003, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR31601C

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Controlled bidirectional transport of nanoparticles

21 Sep 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Baojun Li and coworkers at Sun Yat-Sen University in China have used counter-propagating laser beams in an optical nanofibre to control the transport of nanoparticles in two opposite directions. They were also able to stop the nanoparticles where they wanted.

Being able to transport and position such particles accurately is important for various applications, for example in biomedical research and chemical analysis.

Read the full details of this HOT Nanoscale Communication:

Bidirectional optical transportation and controllable positioning of nanoparticles using an optical nanofiber
Hongxiang Lei , Chong Xu , Yao Zhang and Baojun Li
DOI: 10.1039/C2NR31993D

Table of contents image

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Zhiyong Tang and Roberto Salvarezza join Nanoscale Advisory Board

20 Sep 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Zhiyong Tang of the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China and Roberto Salvarezza of the National University of La Plata, Argentina have both joined the Nanoscale Advisory Board.

Professor Roberto Salvarezza

Professor Salvarezza’s research is focused on scanning probe microscopies and surface physical chemistry, including the physical chemistry of molecular self-assemblies.

Read Prof. Salvarezza’s latest Nanoscale article today:

Self-assembly of thiolated cyanine aggregates on Au(111) and Au nanoparticle surfaces
Guillermo O. Menéndez, Emiliano Cortés, Doris Grumelli, Lucila P. Méndez De Leo, Federico J. Williams, Nicolás G. Tognalli, Alejandro Fainstein, María Elena Vela, Elizabeth A. Jares-Erijman and Roberto C. Salvarezza
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR11039J

Professor Zhiyong Tang

Professor Tang is interested in the application of functional nanomaterials in the fields of energy and the environment.

He recently review the latest progress in chiral inorganic nanoparticles in Nanoscale:

Chiral inorganic nanoparticles: origin, optical properties and bioapplications
Yunsheng Xia, Yunlong Zhou and Zhiyong Tang
DOI: 10.1039/C0NR00903B

One-step template-free synthesis of monoporous polymer microspheres with uniform sizes via microwave-mediated dispersion polymerization
Ming-Qiang Zhu, Gan-Chao Chen, Yun-Mei Li, Jun-Bing Fan, Ming-Feng Zhu and Zhiyong Tang
DOI: 10.1039/C1NR10920K

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Temperature controlled drug release from magnetic liposomes

17 Sep 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Researchers based at Chongqing University in China have reported the synthesis of thermosensitive magnetic liposomes which release 5-(and-6)-carboxylfluorescein and the cancer drug doxorubicin only when the temperature reaches 42 °C. The materials are stable at body temperature, but irradiation with infrared light allows drug release by causing a change in permeability of the liposome membrane.

The authors suggest that the system has great potential for the efficient release of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs.

Read this HOT Communication in full:

Biocompatible magnetic liposomes for temperature triggered drug delivery
Xingwei Ding, Kaiyong Cai, Zhong Luo, Jinghua Li, Yan Hu and Xinkun Shen
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR31292A

Scheme for fabrication of thermosensitive magnetic liposomes

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Nano-branched transparent conducting oxide for flexible electrodes

17 Sep 2012

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) nano-branches for application in transparent flexible electrodes (TFEs) have been made by researchers in Korea.

The team used a simple beam evaporation method to make single crystal ITO nano-branches, which show better conductivity, better thermal stability and significantly better mechanical flexibility compared to commercial ITO film.

Transparent conducting oxides are very attractive materials for TFEs as they overcome limitations of alternatives such as metallic nanowires and carbon-based nanostructures, but their mechanical brittleness is a drawback. The nano-branched structure is much more flexible, and has an improved production process requiring lower temperatures and offering larger synthesis areas.

TFEs pervade modern technologies as critical components of many optoelectronic devices, e.g. solar cells, displays and lighting devices. The much-improved mechanical flexibility of this nano-branched structure implies potential for broad applicability in optoelectronic devices.

Read the Nanoscale article:

Nano-branched transparent conducting oxide: Beyond the brittleness limit for the flexible electrode applications
Hak Ki Yu, Sungjun Kim, Bonhyeong Koo, Gwan Ho Jung, Bola Lee, Juyoung Ham and Jong-Lam Lee
Nanoscale, 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C2NR32228E

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Call for papers: Functional Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

05 Sep 2012

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

Nanoscale themed issue: Functional Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications
Guest Editor: Nguyen TK Thanh (University College London)
Co-Guest Editors: Ramanathan Nagarajan (Natick Soldier RD&E Center), Etienne Dugue (ICMCB),
Puerto Morales (ICMM), Claire Billotey (CNRS-UCBL) and Sylvie Begin (IPCMS)

We are delighted to announce a high-profile Nanoscale themed issue on “Functional Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications”, to be published in 2013. The issue will be Guest Edited by Nguyen TK Thanh, University College London.

We invite you to submit to this exciting themed issue.

Submission Deadline: 30 April 2013

The issue aims to highlight the latest developments in the synthesis and processing of multifunctional bioactive nano-objects, as well as their biomedical applications. Topics will include:

– Design, synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles
– Biofunctionalisation of nanoparticles
– Biocompatibility
– Targeting strategies
– Drug delivery systems
– Biomedical Imaging (e.g. MRI, MPI, SPECT, PET)
– Therapeutics (e.g, hyperthermia, curie theraphy)
– Diagnostics (e.g., enzymatic assay, immunoassay, biosensing)
– Biodistribution/bioelimination
– Nanotoxicology

The deadline for submissions to this themed issue is 30 April 2013, though submissions before this date are, of course, welcomed. It is anticipated that the themed issue will be published in August 2013, accepted papers will be published online as soon as they are ready to avoid any delay.

Submissions for the themed issue should be high quality manuscripts of original, unpublished research
Both Communications and Full Papers can be submitted for consideration
All submissions to the journal are subject to rigorous, fair peer review against our usual very high standards
Submit in any reasonable format via our online submission service (please indicate your manuscript is intended for the “Biomedical” themed issue). Please make a note that the manuscript is for the themed issue in the “Comments to Editor” section or in a cover letter uploaded as a manuscript file.

Please see our Author Guidelines for more information. We hope you will be able to submit to this themed issue.

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Nanoscale Editor reports material harder than diamond

21 Aug 2012

By Heather Montgomery, Deputy Editor.

Nanoscale Associate Editor Professor Xiao Cheng Zeng has reported a material that is harder than diamond which he and his coworkers produced by subjecting solvated C₆₀ cages to very high pressures in Science magazine. The article was also highlighted in Chemistry World magazine.

Professor Zeng handles submissions to Nanoscale in the computational and theoretical fields, he also has a specialist interest in nanoclusters, computational nanocatalysis and computer-aided design and study of nanostructured materials.

Submit to Xiao Cheng Zeng’s Editorial Office today.

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Nanoscale Editor features in Chemistry World

15 Aug 2012

By Jane Hordern, Deputy Editor.

Nanoscale Associate Editor Professor Xiao Cheng Zeng‘s latest discovery has featured in Chemistry World this week. Zeng and colleagues have calculated the structure of a stable carbon dication with a coordination number of 7, higher than any yet seen experimentally.

Read the Chemistry World article:

Carbon clusters score lucky seven

14 August 2012 Andy Extance

The predicted cluster has a pentagon of titanium atoms around the central carbon, plus one above and one below. Credit: ACS

US and Chinese chemists say that they’ve calculated the structure of a stable carbon dication that would have a higher coordination number than any yet seen experimentally. Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and colleagues have found that a carbon surrounded with seven titanium atoms can fulfil the necessary stability criteria. ‘We examined all first-row transition-metal elements and most main group elements,’ Zeng tells Chemistry World. ‘Only titanium fits thus far.’

Surrounding carbon with more than four other atoms moves beyond conventional two-centre, two-electron bonds to arrangements sharing fractional numbers of valence electrons. The current record largest cluster seen experimentally was a hexacoordinate carbon structure synthesised by Japanese researchers in 2008. But theoretical physical chemists are curious to see how much further coordination numbers might be pushed.

Read full article

Submit to Xiao Cheng Zeng’s Editorial Office today.

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Nanoscale & Nanoscale Advances Blog

Colourful metal detection

Controlled bidirectional transport of nanoparticles

Zhiyong Tang and Roberto Salvarezza join Nanoscale Advisory Board

Temperature controlled drug release from magnetic liposomes

Nano-branched transparent conducting oxide for flexible electrodes

Call for papers: Functional Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

Top ten most accessed articles in July

Nanoscale Editor reports material harder than diamond

Nanoscale Editor features in Chemistry World

Carbon clusters score lucky seven

Top 10 most-read Nanoscale articles in June

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