Modern technological solutions require more and more adequate material characteristics for their optimal operation; some of these requirements are: (i) fine control over the material properties, (ii) multiple properties combination (multi-functionality), and (iii) availability of new physical, chemical, mechanical, thermal, etc. characteristics. Most of such needs can be successfully achieved by nano-structuring the ordinary inorganic/organic solid matter. Owing to surface effects, electron confinement, changes in the solid-state band structure, and many other size-dependent physical phenomena, nanoscopic matter behaves much differently from traditional massive materials. The success of nano-structuring is just related to the opportunity to diversify the characteristics of solids that such an approach offers to the traditional material science fields. Therefore, ceramics, metals, semicondutors, polymeric/organic materials can widely benefit of the extraordinary opportunities and potentialities of the nanoscaling methods. Here, the basic aspects of nanomaterials have been synthetically described in order to prove the efficacy of this approach and the variety of potentialities and opportunities offered to scientists working in this fascinating field of knowledge. In particular, it has been presented in some details the following advanced nanocristalline structures: metallic aerogels of silver and palladium, graphite nanoplatelets aerogel, single-crystal gold quantum-wells, natural clinoptilolite lamellas, polymer-supported graphene, micronic silver nanowires, sub-micronic cobalt nanoparticles, graphite oxide; and the following semi-cristalline: gold, silver, palladium and iron nanoparticles embedded in an amorphous polymer.

Carbon nanostructures (CNSs) are attractive components to attain nanocomposites, yet their hydrophobic nature and strong tendency to aggregate often limit their use in aqueous conditions and negatively impact their properties. In this work, carbon nanohorns (CNHs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene (G) are first oxidized, and then reacted to covalently anchor the self-assembling tripeptide L-Leu-D-Phe-D-Phe to improve their dispersibility in phosphate buffer, and favor the formation of hydrogels formed by the self-organizing L-Leu-D-Phe-D-Phe present in solution. The obtained nanocomposites are then characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), oscillatory rheology, and conductivity measurements to gain useful insights as to the key factors that determine self-healing ability for the future design of this type of nanocomposites.

In the biomedical field, the demand for the development of broad-spectrum biomaterials able to inhibit bacterial growth is constantly increasing. Chronic infections represent the most serious and devastating complication related to the use of biomaterials. This is particularly relevant in the orthopaedic field, where infections can lead to implant loosening, arthrodesis, amputations and sometimes death. Antibiotics are the conventional approach for implanted-associated infections, but they have the limitation of increasing antibiotic resistance, a critical worldwide healthcare issue. In this context, the development of anti-infective biomaterials and infection-resistant surfaces can be considered the more effective strategy to prevent the implant colonisation and bio-film formation by bacteria, so reducing the occurrence of implant-associated infections. In the last years, inor-ganic nanostructures have become extremely appealing for chemical modifications or coatings of Ti surfaces, since they do not generate antibiotic resistance issues and are featured by superior stability, durability, and full compatibility with the sterilization process. In this work, we present a simple, rapid, and cheap chemical nanofunctionalization of titanium (Ti) scaffolds with colloidal ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles (NPs), prepared by a sol-gel method, exhibiting antibacterial activity. ZnO NPs and ZnxMn(1_x)O NPs formation with a size around 10-20 nm and band gap values of 3.42 eV and 3.38 eV, respectively, have been displayed by char-acterization studies. UV-Vis, fluorescence, and Raman investigation suggested that Mn ions acting as dopants in the ZnO lattice. Ti scaffolds have been functionalized through dip coating, obtaining ZnO@Ti and ZnxMn(1_x)O@Ti biomaterials characterized by a continuous nanostructured film. ZnO@Ti and ZnxMn(1_x)O@Ti displayed an enhanced antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) bacterial strains, compared to NPs in solution with better performance of ZnxMn(1_x)O@Ti respect to ZnO@Ti. Notably, it has been observed that ZnxMn(1_x)O@Ti scaf-folds reach a complete eradication for S. aureus and 90 % of reduction for P. aeruginosa. This can be attributed to Zn2+ and Mn2+ metal ions release (as observed by ICP MS experiments) that is also maintained over time (72 h). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reported in the literature describing ZnO and Mn-doped ZnO of new hybrid implantable devices through a low-cost process, compatible with the biotechnological industrial chain method.

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to collaboration between nanotechnology scientists, industry stakeholders, and clinicians to develop solutions for diagnostics, prevention, and treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. Nanomaterials, including carbon-based materials (CBM) such as graphene and carbon nanotubes, have been studied for their potential in viral research. CBM unique effects on microorganisms, immune interaction, and sensitivity in diagnostics have made them a promising subject of SARS-CoV-2 research. This review discusses the interaction of CBM with SARS-CoV-2 and their applicability, including CBM physical and chemical properties, the known interactions between CBM and viral components, and the proposed prevention, treatment, and diagnostics uses.

In the last two decade, a growing interest is emerging for the fabrication of nanofibrous membranes by electrospinning techniques. Due to their superior features in terms of extended surface area, high porosity and high process versatility, electrospun fibres are promising to fabricate excellent adsorbent systems for heavy metals ions. Indeed, by the combination of organic and inorganic materials and an accurate functionalization of fibre surface, it is possible to design innovative membranes with selective adsorption ability to specific heavy metal based on competitive mechanism with tunable excellent applications. In this chapter, an overview of the current state of art in the fabrication of electrospun membranes will be proposed, also tracing future insights to meet recent demands in different application areas, including agriculture, food science, and pharmaceutical and biomedical industries.

Galectins are an ancient family of lectins characterized by the specific binding of ?-galactosides through evolutionarily conserved sequence elements of the carbohydrate recognition domain. Interest in this protein family is growing due to the crucial role of galectins not only as therapeutic agents but also as biomarkers of the inflammatory stage occurring in several diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. For this reason, the biosensing of galectin becomes crucial for the evaluation of a pathological state as well as for the follow-up of a therapeutic treatment. The design of biosensors for galectin detection is becoming a reality in recent years, as complementary analytical tools to be exploited at the point of need to support laboratory setup methodologies. This review reports the latest trends in biosensing systems for galectins based on different natural and artificial bioreceptors, integrated into different transduction systems and exploiting nanomaterials to improve analytical performance.

An innovative material constituted of a natural biopolymers blend (Funori) from Gloiopeltis algae and Ca(OH)2 nanocrystals was developed to consolidate linen fibers for cultural heritage conservation preventing future degradation due to the alkaline reservoir by Ca(OH)2. The procedure to extract Funori from the algae was reliable and reproducible and the consolidation performances for aged linen fibers of the Funori/Ca(OH)2 nanocrystals smart system were showed highly promising in cultural heritage conservation.

Background: Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) are sub-micrometer lipid-bound particles released by most cell types. They are considered a promising source of cancer biomarkers for liquid biopsy and personalized medicine due to their specifc molecular cargo, which provides biochemical information on the state of parent cells. Despite this potential, EVs translation process in the diagnostic practice is still at its birth, and the development of novel medical devices for their detection and characterization is highly required. Results: In this study, we demonstrate mid-infrared plasmonic nanoantenna arrays designed to detect, in the liquid and dry phase, the specifc vibrational absorption signal of EVs simultaneously with the unspecifc refractive index sensing signal. For this purpose, EVs are immobilized on the gold nanoantenna surface by immunocapture, allowing us to select specifc EV sub-populations and get rid of contaminants. A wet sample-handling technique relying on hydrophobicity contrast enables efortless refectance measurements with a Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectromicroscope in the wavelength range between 10 and 3 µm. In a proof-of-principle experiment carried out on EVs released from human colorectal adenocarcinoma (CRC) cells, the protein absorption bands (amide-I and amide-II between 5.9 and 6.4 µm) increase sharply within minutes when the EV solution is introduced in the fuidic chamber, indicating sensitivity to the EV proteins. A refractive index sensing curve is simultaneously provided by our sensor in the form of the redshift of a sharp spectral edge at wavelengths around 5 µm, where no vibrational absorption of organic molecules takes place: this permits to extract of the dynamics of EV capture by antibodies from the overall molecular layer deposition dynamics, which is typically measured by commercial surface plasmon resonance sensors. Additionally, the described metasurface is exploited to compare the spectral response of EVs derived from cancer cells

first_page settings Order Article Reprints Open AccessReview Electro Fluid Dynamics: A Route to Design Polymers and Composites for Biomedical and Bio-Sustainable Applications by Nergis Zeynep Renkler [ORCID] , Iriczalli Cruz-Maya [ORCID] , Irene Bonadies [ORCID] and Vincenzo Guarino * [ORCID] Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials, National research Council of Italy, Mostra d'Oltremare Pad.20, V. le J.F. Kennedy 54, 80125 Naples, Italy * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Polymers 2022, 14(19), 4249; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14194249 Received: 15 September 2022 / Revised: 4 October 2022 / Accepted: 5 October 2022 / Published: 10 October 2022 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Fabrication and Application of Electrospun Nanofibers) Download Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract In the last two decades, several processes have been explored for the development of micro and/or nanostructured substrates by sagely physically and/or chemically manipulating polymer materials. These processes have to be designed to overcome some of the limitations of the traditional ones in terms of feasibility, reproducibility, and sustainability. Herein, the primary aim of this work is to focus on the enormous potential of using a high voltage electric field to manipulate polymers from synthetic and/or natural sources for the fabrication of different devices based on elementary units, i.e., fibers or particles, with different characteristic sizes--from micro to nanoscale. Firstly, basic principles and working mechanisms will be introduced in order to correlate the effect of selected process parameters (i.e., an applied voltage) on the dimensional features of the structures. Secondly, a comprehensive overview of the recent trends and potential uses of these processes will be proposed for different biomedical and bio-sustainable application areas.

Iron(III) oxide nanomaterials are extremely promising for the development of magnetic devices, gas sensors, photocatalysts, and photoelectrodes for solar water splitting. The fabrication of such systems by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) relies on the use of molecular sources joining shelf-stability, high volatility, and clean decomposition. Herein, we report for the first time on a versatile iron(II) precursor, namely Fe(tfa)2TMEDA (tfa = 1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedionate; TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine), combining the above features with a simple molecular concept. A theoretical-experimental characterization confirmed the compound spectroscopic purity and monomeric nature, and enabled to elucidate its structural, vibrational and electronic properties, along with its fragmentation pathway and thermal behavior. The ideal Fe(tfa)2TMEDA characteristics for CVD applications were finally validated through the fabrication of high purity iron oxide nanomaterials. The latter, comprising the sole metastable ?-Fe2O3 polymorph rather than the most stable rust (?-Fe2O3), were characterized by the occurrence of oxygen defects and a nano-organization tunable as a function of growth temperature and reaction atmosphere

Background: There is a huge body of literature data on ZnOnanoparticles (ZnO NPs) toxicity. However, the reported results are seen to be increasingly discrepant, and deep comprehension of the ZnO NPs behaviour in relation to the different experimental conditions is still lacking. A recent literature overview emphasizes the screening of the ZnO NPs toxicity with more than one assay, checking the experimental reproducibility also versus time, which is a key factor for the robustness of the results. In this paper we compared high-throughput real-time measurements through Electric Cell-substrate Impedance-Sensing (ECIS®) with endpoint measurements of multiple independent assays. Results: ECIS-measurements were compared with traditional cytotoxicity tests such as MTT, Neutral red, Trypan blue, and cloning efficiency assays. ECIS could follow the cell behavior continuously and noninvasively for days, so that certain long-term characteristics of cell proliferation under treatment with ZnO NPs were accessible. This was particularly important in the case of pro-mitogenic activity exerted by low-dose ZnO NPs, an effect not revealed by endpoint independent assays. This result opens new worrisome questions about the potential mitogenic activity exerted by ZnO NPs, or more generally by NPs, on transformed cells. Of importance, impedance curve trends (morphology) allowed to discriminate between different cell death mechanisms (apoptosis vs autophagy) in the absence of specific reagents, as confirmed by cell structural and functional studies by high-resolution microscopy. This could be advantageous in terms of costs and time spent. ZnO NPs-exposed A549 cells showed an unusual pattern of actin and tubulin distribution which might trigger mitotic aberrations leading to genomic instability. Conclusions: ZnO NPs toxicity can be determined not only by the intrinsic NPs characteristics, but also by the external conditions like the experimental setting, and this could account for discrepant data from different assays. ECIS has the potential to recapitulate the needs required in the evaluation of nanomaterials by contributing to the reliability of cytotoxicity tests. Moreover, it can overcome some false results and discrepancies in the results obtained by endpoint measurements. Finally, we strongly recommend the comparison of cytotoxicity tests (ECIS, MTT, Trypan Blue, Cloning efficiency) with the ultrastructural cell pathology studies. Graphic Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

The immunological safety of drugs, nanomaterials and contaminants is a central point in the regulatory evaluation and safety monitoring of working and public places and of the environment. In fact, anomalies in immune responses may cause diseases and hamper the physical and functional integrity of living organisms, from plants to human beings. In the case of nanomaterials, many experimental models are used for assessing their immunosafety, some of which have been adopted by regulatory bodies. All of them, however, suffer from shortcomings and approximations, and may be inaccurate in representing real-life responses, thereby leading to incomplete, incorrect or even misleading predictions. Here, we review the advantages and disadvantages of current nanoimmunosafety models, comparing in vivo vs. in vitro models and examining the use of animal vs. human cells, primary vs. transformed cells, complex multicellular and 3D models, organoids and organs-on-chip, in view of implementing a reliable and personalized nanoimmunosafety testing. The general conclusion is that the choice of testing models is key for obtaining reliable predictive information, and therefore special attention should be devoted to selecting the most relevant and realistic suite of models in order to generate relevant information that can allow for safer-by-design nanotechnological developments.

Carbon nanosheets are two-dimensional nanostructured materials that have applications as energy storage devices, electrochemical sensors, sample supports, filtration membranes, thanks to their high porosity and surface area. Here, for the first time, carbon nanosheets have been prepared from the stems and leaves of a nettle fibre clone, by using a cheap and straight-forward procedure that can be easily scaled up. The nanomaterial shows interesting physical parameters, namely interconnectivity of pores, graphitization, surface area and pore width. These characteristics are similar to those described for the nanomaterials obtained from other fibre crops. However, the advantage of nettle over other plants is its fast growth and easy propagation of homogeneous material using stem cuttings. This last aspect guarantees homogeneity of the starting raw material, a feature that is sought-after to get a nanomaterial with homogeneous and reproducible properties. To evaluate the potential toxic effects if released in the environment, an assessment of the impact on plant reproduction performance and microalgal growth has been carried out by using tobacco pollen cells and the green microalga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata. No inhibitory effects on pollen germination are recorded, while algal growth inhibition is observed at higher concentrations of leaf carbon nanosheets with lower graphitization degree.

It is generally agreed that photosynthetic organisms demonstrated their potential for the development of highly sensitive, sustainable, and affordable biosensors to detect toxic chemicals in aquatic ecosystems, being a primary target for most toxic pollutants. Based on this principle, the application of photosynthetic material as a biological receptor in biosensing provides an excellent tool for a cheap and effective detection of a wide range of life-threatening pollutants. This review will provide a comprehensive overview of photosynthesis-based biosensors, shading light on the diverse types of photosynthetic materials to be exploited, the different supports on which such material can be immobilized, and the dual opto-electrochemical transduction in which it can be integrated for the environmental monitoring of photosynthetic herbicides.

Water scarcity and hydrogeological instability represent critical issues for worldwide population and natural environment. Drinking and reusable water demand has exponentilally increased over the last years, causing many Countries to suffer poverty and environmental destruction. Sustainable solutions are demanded to manage natural resources and protect environment. Ecosustainable production of freswater is possible through the implementation of green membrane technologies enabling one to manage seawater as a natural source for reusable water and salts. Precisely, membrane distillation and membrane crystallization are regarded as two revolutionary approaches to produce freshwater and minerals. The low availability of suitable materials limits however their accomplishment on scale. Herein, polymeric membranes are engineered with exfoliated graphene and bismuth telluride. The new functional membranes are demonstrated to boost the production of large amounts of reusable water and crystals from hypersaline solutions. When confined in polymer membranes, 2D materials show ability to accelerate water evaporation from saline solutions under a difference of temperature across the film, resulting in mass-energy transfer governed-processes. High productivity-efficiency trade-offs and enhanced thermal efficiency are successfully obtained, suggesting the novelty of the use of nanomaterials such as graphene and beyond in advanced water desalination.

Ti3C2TX nano-sheets (MXenes) with excellent light-conversion capacity have gained importance in treating in-fectious diseases due to their limited bacterial resistance. In this study, we exploit this property to design pho-tothermal antibacterial therapy using few- (FX) and multi-layer (MX) Ti3C2Tx nano-sheets. We demonstrate that FX have a higher cytocompatibility and conversion of light to heat, but MX show a better efficacy in inhibiting growth of S. aureus and E. coli due to MXenes' reversible bacteria trapping. For MX (25 ?g/mL), ?37% of E. coli and ?23% of S. aureus cells survived, while the effect was less pronounced for FX with ?72% of E. coli and ?46% of S. aureus viable cells after treatment. After using 100 ?g/mL of MX, ?11% of E. coli and ?4% of S. aureus survived, while FX had only a mild effect on both species. The NIR laser treatment increased the efficacy of both materials: 100 ?g/mL of MX combined with 5 min laser treatment at 5.7 W cm

Graphene oxide (GO) is a bidimensional novel material that exhibits high biocompatibility and angiogenic properties, mostly related to the intracellular formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this work, we set up an experimental methodology for the fabrication of GO@peptide hybrids by the immobilization, via irreversible physical adsorption, of the Ac-(GHHPH)-NH peptide sequence, known to mimic the anti-angiogenic domain of the histidine-proline-rich glycoprotein (HPRG). The anti-proliferative capability of the graphene-peptide hybrids were tested in vitro by viability assays on prostate cancer cells (PC-3 line), human neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y), and human retinal endothelial cells (primary HREC). The anti-angiogenic response of the two cellular models of angiogenesis, namely endothelial and prostate cancer cells, was scrutinized by prostaglandin E2 (PGE) release and wound scratch assays, to correlate the activation of inflammatory response upon the cell treatments with the GO@peptide nanocomposites to the cell migration processes. Results showed that the GO@peptide nanoassemblies not only effectively induced toxicity in the prostate cancer cells, but also strongly blocked the cell migration and inhibited the prostaglandin-mediated inflammatory process both in PC-3 and in HRECs. Moreover, the cytotoxic mechanism and the internalization efficiency of the theranostic nanoplatforms, investigated by mitochondrial ROS production analyses and confocal microscopy imaging, unraveled a dose-dependent manifold mechanism of action performed by the hybrid nanoassemblies against the PC-3 cells, with the detection of the GO-characteristic cell wrapping and mitochondrial perturbation. The obtained results pointed out to the very promising potential of the synthetized graphene-based hybrids for cancer therapy.

We report the synthesis of mesoporous TiO nanostructures based on the decomposition of TiOSO in aqueous alkaline solution at room temperature, followed by mild thermal treatment (110C) in an oven and suitable to yield up to 40 g of product per batch. The duration of the thermal treatment was found to be crucial to control crystalline phase composition, specific surface area, surface chemistry and, accordingly, the photocatalytic properties of the obtained TiO nanocrystals. The thorough investigation of the prepared samples allowed us to explain the relationship between the structure of the obtained nanoparticles and their photocatalytic behavior, that was tested in a model reaction. In addition, the advantage of the mild treatment against a harsher calcination at 450C was illustrated. The proposed approach represents a facile and sustainable route to promptly access an effective photocatalyst, thus holding a significant promise for the development of solutions suitable to real technological application in environmental depollution.

A combination of carbon ions/photons irradiation and hyperthermia as a novel therapeutic approach for the in-vitro treatment of pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells is presented. The radiation doses used are 0-2 Gy for carbon ions and 0-7 Gy for 6 MV photons. Hyperthermia is realized via a standard heating bath, assisted by magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) that utilizes magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) exposed to an alternating magnetic field of amplitude 19.5 mTesla and frequency 109.8 kHz. Starting from 37 °C, the temperature is gradually increased and the sample is kept at 42 °C for 30 min. For MFH, MNPs with a mean diameter of 19 nm and specific absorption rate of 110 ± 30 W/gFe3o4 coated with a biocompatible ligand to ensure stability in physiological media are used. Irradiation diminishes the clonogenic survival at an extent that depends on the radiation type, and its decrease is amplified both by the MNPs cellular uptake and the hyperthermia protocol. Significant increases in DNA double-strand breaks at 6 h are observed in samples exposed to MNP uptake, treated with 0.75 Gy carbon-ion irradiation and hyperthermia. The proposed experimental protocol, based on the combination of hadron irradiation and hyperthermia, represents a first step towards an innovative clinical option for pancreatic cancer.