Nanowires are tiny wires that are smaller than a single atom. They can be found in many forms, from Graphene to TiNWs and SiNWs. These nanowires can be used in many applications, including biomedical engineering, electronics, and energy storage.
SiNWs
Single crystalline silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are attractive materials for many applications. SiNWs can be produced epitaxially or in dense assemblies. In the present study, we explore the oxid-assisted SiNW synthesis. It is a potential technique to produce SiNWs with high quality and reproducibility.
The first step was to clean the silicon wafers with acetone. Next, the wafers were placed in diluted HF solution for three minutes. After that, evaporation started. A rate of 0.5 A*s-1 was applied. During this process, the diameter of the grown SiNWs changed from 449 + 120 nm at the base to (10.7 + 0.2) nm at the tip.
The PL spectra of the mesoporous SiNWs are shown in wavelength ranges of 500-900 nm. Interestingly, a blue shift of the PL spectrum is observed. This is due to the interaction of silicon quantum confined bands with the SiNWs.
Moreover, a crystalline nanoparticle was spotted at the seed tip region. This is in agreement with the pristine facets of the initial seeds. The lattice plane distance was 0.19 nm.
Bi-modified and Bi-free SiNWs samples were prepared. Both of them exhibit a large enhancement of the PL intensity. However, they present different thicknesses of the Bi layer.
A high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) image shows the crystalline lattice structure. These results demonstrate that the k-SiNWs have a single-crystalline nature.
The average effective elastic modulus of the k-SiNWs was close to the bulk material. It also indicates the presence of a few defects on the surface of the SiNWs.
However, the morphologies of the SiNW arrays were not well defined. Moreover, the length of the grown SiNWs varied. They were approximately 6 to 25 um in length.
TiNWs
There’s no doubt that nanomaterials of all kinds, notably titanium (Ti) and its alloys have garnered a lot of attention in recent years. However, it’s been an uphill battle to make it work as a viable material for applications in the biomedical arena. Fortunately, the researchers have been able to achieve this through a combination of innovative design and clever manufacturing techniques. For example, TiNWs with microporous architecture can be synthesized by a hydrothermal route. Moreover, the resulting matrices can be shaped and reshaped to produce new materials that are not only functional but also interesting to study.
As part of the research, the team evaluated the effects of the various additives in their respective systems. In particular, they tested the impact of chitosan and bovine serum albumin. One notable effect is the formation of hydroxyapatite. This material may be used as scaffolds in a variety of applications. Alternatively, it may be utilized as an alternative for biomacromolecules that might otherwise be degraded or destroyed during normal aging. In addition to adsorption, the team also found that TiO2 nanomaterials can exhibit a number of other properties, namely a strong anti-corrosive character.
Graphene
Graphene nanowires are a promising technology for solar cells. They have high light absorption and less reflection. This increases the efficiency of solar cells. However, they are difficult to manipulate with precision. Therefore, more studies are needed to investigate the influence of NWs on graphene.
Moreover, differences in the height of graphene on NWs can affect the morphology and the strain of the graphene. To address these problems, the researchers performed SEM analyses on GaN NWs with different variations in height. Their results show that differences in the height of graphene on GaN NWs have a significant effect on the morphology and strain of graphene. In particular, graphene on NWs with equal height exhibits a flat distribution of the RGD ratio. Graphene on NWs with a high density of NWs exhibits a pronounced modulation in the RGD ratio.
Several types of defects were detected in N0 and N100 samples. The defect density was 936 and 977 defects per square micrometre, respectively. It is not clear why this difference occurred. Nonetheless, the density of defects is significantly lower in the N0 sample than in the N100 sample.
During the transfer process, polydimethylsiloxane was used as a stabilizer. A low temperature nanowire-growing process is relatively cheap and simple. However, it might not allow the same degree of control of chemical properties and the structure of the nanowires.
Ag and Cu nanowire composites
Cu/Cu@Ag nanowires are composites with a special morphology and microstructure. The nanocomposites are capable of achieving tensile strengths up to 22.6 MPa. In addition to reducing friction and wear, the nanocomposites have improved thermal stability.
This type of nanowires is characterized by high conductive properties and excellent chemical resistance. These nanowires can be used as an inexpensive catalyst for electroless copper deposition. Their electrical conductivity is similar to Cu, and their resistivity is also low. They are effective antimicrobial materials. Using Cu@Ag nanowires as a nanofiller can increase thermal stability of PVC matrix composites and reduce chain segmental mobility.
Electroless copper deposition is an attractive technique for nanoscale electrocatalysis and metallization. This method has become a powerful alternative to conventional electroplating techniques. However, it requires prolonged plating time and requires large amounts of metal. An inexpensive, yet effective, alternative is a direct metallization and plating approach.
The bimetallic CuxO/Ag2O@NP-CuAg electrode has been prepared using a facile fabrication strategy. It has been demonstrated that the nanocomposites have enhanced glucose electrocatalytic performance. Furthermore, this composite exhibits hierarchical porous structure.
The TEM image shows the Ag nanosheet layer on the Cu nanowires. A high magnification of the images is shown in Figure 2. In addition to this, the Cu nanowires have a top-converged structure. Although it may be due to the bending of the large aspect ratio nanowires, it seems to coincide with the schematic of Figure 1c.
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Functionalized Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)
The functionalized Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) nanowires are a promising nanocarrier for targeted drug delivery to angiogenic endothelium. Aside from their photothermal effect, these NPs are also able to locallyize to the endosomes after uptake. During this process, the RGD moieties on the surface of the NPs interact with avb3 integrins on angiogenic endothelium. This interaction may lead to better pharmacokinetics and toxicity.
In this study, we investigated the functionality of the functionalized Arg-Gly-Asp NPs in the context of their interactions with human umbilical vein endothelium cells. We investigated their interactions in the flow and static conditions and evaluated them using microscopy and flow cytometry. The cRGD-NPs exhibited the best performance in the flow scenario.
Aside from the obvious, we have also explored the use of a cyclic RGD peptide to link PEG chains of nanostructures.
We have also shown that the RGD motif on the NP’s surface can bind avb3 integrins. Our research indicates that this interaction is responsible for the impressive properties of a cRGD-NPs in the static and flow conditions.
Finally, we have demonstrated that the Cy5.5-CNP-Gd(III) can function as a dual imaging agent for detecting and treating cancer. These spherical NPs have an average size of 350 nm.
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