Sharif Digital Repository

Although numerous molecular methods for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) detection have been exploited, most of hem are laborious, time consuming and costly. Recently, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have attracted attention in the field of colourimetric bioanalysis, because AuNP aggregation can be tracked with the naked eye as well as ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) peak analysis. Here, based on a non-cross linking platform, a colourimetric-based method was used to evaluate the capability of thiolated oligo-AuNPs (Au nanoprobes) to distinguish between normal individuals, carriers and those with SMA. In this platform, removal of the repulsive force of the Au nanoprobes using high salt concentration... 

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) were synthesized by co-deposition of RF-sputtering and RF-PECVD from acetylene gas and Au target on the carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The CNTs were prepared by thermal chemical vapor deposition (TCVD) and Pd nanoparticles catalyst. TEM image shows that high-density and uniform distribution of Au NPs were grown on the CNTs. XRD analysis indicates that Au NPs have fcc crystal structure and CNTs have a good graphite structure. Raman spectroscopy results suggest that our sample includes double-walled CNTs. It is resulted that intensity of D-band reduces and G-band intensity raises and radial breathing mode (RBM) is changed by immobilizing of Au NPs on the CNTs. Raman... 

Protein fibrillation process (e.g., from amyloid beta (Aβ) and α-synuclein) is the main cause of several catastrophic neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson diseases. During the past few decades, nanoparticles (NPs) were recognized as one of the most promising tools for inhibiting the progress of the disease by controlling the fibrillation kinetic process; for instance, gold NPs have a strong capability to inhibit Aβ fibrillations. It is now well understood that a layer of biomolecules would cover the surface of NPs (so called "protein corona") upon the interaction of NPs with protein sources. Due to the fact that the biological species (e.g., cells and amyloidal... 

A nanocomposite of silica-polydiphenylamine doped with silver nanoparticles (Ag-SiO2-PDPA) was successfully synthesized by the sol-gel process. For its preparation, PDPA was mixed with butanethiol capped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and added to the silica sol solution. The Ag NPs were stabilized as a result of their adsorption on the SiO2 spheres. The surface characteristic of nanocomposite was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In this work the Ag-SiO2-PDPA nanocomposite was employed as an efficient sorbent for micro-solid-phase extraction (μ-SPE) of some selected pesticides. An amount of 15 mg of the prepared sorbent was used to extract and... 

In the last few years, an increasing attention has been paid to the issues of saving energy and reducing the manufacturing costs in the transport industry which necessitates further efforts to replace traditional materials like steel with lightweight materials such as plastics, aluminum, magnesium, and composites. Metal matrix nanocomposites have turned into an established material in today's industry with an ongoing expansion in their field of applications. In this study, the formation of nanoparticle-aluminum metal matrix composites is described by compocast processing from nanoparticle Al2O3 and the A356 aluminum alloy. In order to optimize the processing parameters, a novel approach is... 

Mn-doped ZnO nanoparticles, Zn1−xMnxO, were synthesised by a polyethylene glycol (PEG) sol–gel method and the physicochemical properties of compounds were characterised by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic degradation of an organic dye, methylene blue (MB), in the presence of Zn1−xMnxO as the catalyst and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as the oxidant at room temperature in water has been studied. Effects of oxidant, catalyst amount, catalyst composition, pH value of the solution and an OH-radical... 

Hollow microblocks of [Zn(anic)2], as a novel coordination compound, were synthesized using 2-aminonicotinic acid (Hanic) and zinc (II) nitrate tetrahydrate. The chemical composition of the zinc complex, ZnC12H10N4O4, was determined by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The synthesized zinc complex was used as a precursor to produce ZnO nanostructures by calcination at 550 °C for 4 h. Morphological studies by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy revealed the formation of porous microbricks of ZnO nanoparticles. N2 adsorption-desorption analysis showed that the... 

Friction stir processing (FSP) is a solid state route with a capacity of preparing fine grained nanocomposites from metal sheets. In this work, we employed this process to finely distribute TiO2 nanoparticles throughout an Al-Mg alloy, aiming to enhance mechanical properties. Titanium dioxide particles (30 nm) were preplaced into grooves machined in the middle of the aluminium alloy sheet and multipass FSP was afforded. This process refined the grain structure of the aluminium alloy, distributed the hard nanoparticles in the matrix and promoted solid state chemical reactions at the interfaces of the metal/ceramic particles. Detailed optical and electron microscopic studies showed that the... 

The paucity of cellular and molecular signals essential for normal wound healing makes severe dermatological ulcers stubborn to heal. The novel strategies of skin regenerative treatments are focused on the development of biologically responsive scaffolds accompanied by cells and multiple biomolecules resembling structural and biochemical cues of the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). Electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds provide similar architecture to the ECM leading to enhancement of cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and neo tissue formation. This Review surveys the application of biocompatible natural, synthetic and composite polymers to fabricate electrospun scaffolds as skin... 

Developments of sensitive, rapid, and cheap systems for identification of a wide range of biomolecules have been recognized as a critical need in the biology field. Here, we introduce a simple colorimetric sensor array for detection of biological thiols, based on aggregation of three types of surface engineered gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The low-molecular-weight biological thiols show high affinity to the surface of AuNPs; this causes replacement of AuNPs' shells with thiol containing target molecules leading to the aggregation of the AuNPs through intermolecular electrostatic interaction or hydrogen-bonding. As a result of the predetermined aggregation, color and UV-vis spectra of AuNPs... 

Nanoparticles of high-Z elements exhibit stronger photoelectric effects than soft tissues under gamma irradiation. Hence, they can be used as effective radiosensitizers for increasing the efficiency of current radiotherapy. In this work, superparamagnetic zinc ferrite spinel (ZnFe2O4) nanoparticles were synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction method and used as radiosensitizers in cancer therapy. The magnetic nanoparticles showed fast separation from solutions (e.g., ~ 1 min for 2 mg mL- 1 of the nanoparticles in ethanol) by applying an external magnetic field (~ 1 T). The ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles were applied in an in vitro radiotherapy of lymph node carcinoma of prostate cells (as high... 

This study describes spectrometric monitored kinetic processes to determine the size of citrate-capped Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) based on aggregation induced by L-cysteine (L-Cys) as a molecular linker. The Au NPs association process is thoroughly dependent on pH, concentration and size of nanoparticles. Size dependency of aggregation inspirits to determine the average diameters of Au NPs. For this aim the procedure is achieved in aqueous medium at pH 7 (phosphate buffer), and multivariate data including kinetic spectra of Au NPs are collected during aggregation process. Subsequently partial least squares (PLS) modeling is carried out analyzing the obtained data. The model is built on the... 

Just a few investigations have been conducted to study the mixed nanofluids(MNs), which contain more than one type of nanoparticles, despite considerable advances in the field of nanofluids thermal conductivity. In present research, by combining different volume fractions of various nanoparticles, the variation of mixed nanofluids thermal conductivity was considered. The mentioned nanofluids have different fabrication cost. First, the effect of each specific nanoparticle presence in the base fluid on the thermal conductivity of nanofluid was surveyed both experimentally and theoretically. Then, the thermal conductivities of two MNs, one consisted of a metallic nanoparticle (high thermal... 

Supported iron oxide nanoparticles are found to be efficient and recoverable catalyst in the selective oxidation of thiols to their corresponding disulfides using hydrogen peroxide as green oxidant at room temperature. The protocol features an easy work-up, simplicity and the utilizing mild reaction conditions, as well as high selectivity toward disulfides, are highly advantageous compared to alternative reported methodologies. The supported iron oxide nanoparticles could be easily recovered and reused several times without any loss of activity. ICP-MS results prove that there is no metal leaching observed, and demonstrating the stability of the catalyst under the reaction conditions  

Green and simple synthesis strategies have gained tremendous popularity for the production of anisotropically-shaped noble metallic nanoparticles. The long-term stability of the produced particles, the short timescale of the target reaction(s), as well as the use of non-toxic chemicals, are pivotal features of a useful green procedure. Herein we describe a simple and convenient wet-chemical approach to synthesize stable, non-toxic and water-soluble small gold nanotriangles (GNTs) and gold nanospheres (GNSs) in one step at room temperature, using Tween 20 and Tween 80, respectively. A high level of purity and monodispersity was obtained for the GNTs, in addition to an excellent colloidal... 

Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) were synthesized and coated with pseudopolyrotaxanes (PPRs) and proposed as a novel hybrid nanostructure for medical imaging and drug delivery. PPRs were prepared by addition of α-cyclodextrin rings to functionalized polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain with hydrophobic triazine end-groups. Non-covalent interactions between SPIONs and PPRs led to the assembly of SPIONs@PRs hybrid nanomaterials. Measurements of the 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) relaxation times T1 and T2 allowed us to determine the NMR dispersion profiles. Comparison between our SPIONs@PRs hybrid nano-compound and the commercial SPION compound, Endorem®, showed a higher... 

Three strategies were employed for the assembly of gold nanoparticles on silica-coated magnetite particles (SCMPs). In strategy I, citrate-coated gold nanoparticles were attached on the surface of amine-SCMPs. In strategy II, amine-SCMPs were coated with carboxylated gold nanoparticles via amide bond formation. In strategy III, the thiol-SCMPs surface was coated with gold nanoparticles. Among the above examined strategies, coating amine-SCMPs with gold nanoparticles via strategy I resulted in a better coverage and stronger intensity of absorption bands. Furthermore, results obtained through strategy I showed that decreasing the pH of the solution from 7 to 3 leads to a further red-shift of... 

Gold nanoparticles are widely used as high efficient photon-thermal energy converters in a broad range of applications. This paper presents a theoretical investigation on using the optothermal properties of gold nanoparticle arrays to generate nanoscale molten and rubbery regions on the surface of an amorphous polymeric film. Nanoparticles are assumed to be embedded in a transparent silica layer and illuminated with a 7.5 ns pulsed laser at 532 nm. Simulation results are presented for systems with single gold nanoparticles, dimers and chains. Both electromagnetic and thermal interaction between nanoparticles are found to be important factors in determining the result of surface processing.... 

A novel approach for highly sensitive detection of captopril was developed based on the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), in which FITC acts as the donor and Au NPs as the acceptor. The fluorescence intensity of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) was strictly quenched as a result of noncovalently adsorbed on Au NPs. Upon the addition of captopril, the fluorescence intensity of FITC turn-on due to the competition between captopril and FITC towards the surface of Au NPs. Under the optimum conditions, the fluorescence intensity of the released FITC displays a linear relationship in the range of 20 μg L-1 to... 

Gold nanorods (GNRs) can be used in various biomedical applications; however, very little is known about their in vivo tissue distribution by radiolabeling. Here, we have developed a rapid and simple method with high yield and without disturbing their optical properties for radiolabeling of gold rods with iodine-131 in order to track in vivo tissue uptake of GNRs after systemic administration by biodistribution analysis and γ-imaging. Following intravenous injection into rat, PEGylated GNRs have much longer blood circulation times. We have developed a rapid and simple method for radiolabeling of gold rods with iodine-131 in order to track in vivo tissue uptake of gold nanorods after systemic...