Au/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals with controllable shell thicknesses were synthesized using a cysteine-assisted hydrothermal method. Incorporating Au/ZnS nanocrystals into the traditional Pt-catalyzed half-cell reaction led to a 43.3% increase in methanol oxidation current under light illumination, demonstrating their promising potential for metal/semiconductor hybrid nanocrystals as the anode ph...

The aim of this study was to measure the levels of nickel in the skin contaminant layer of workers involved in specific processes and tasks within the primary nickel production and primary nickel user industries. Dermal exposure samples were collected using moist wipes to recover surface contamination from defined areas of skin. These were analysed for soluble and insoluble nickel species. Pers...

Semiconductor quantum dots (QD) and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals (SPIO) have exceptional physical properties that are well suited for biomedical applications in vitro and in vivo. For future applications, the direct injection of nanocrystals for imaging and therapy represents an important entry route into the human body. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate biological responses ...

The photochemical instability of CdSe nanocrystals coated by hydrophilic thiols was studied nondestructively and systematically in water. The results revealed that the photochemical instability of the nanocrystals actually included three distinguishable processes, namely the photocatalytic oxidation of the thiol ligands on the surface of nanocrystals, the photooxidation of the nanocrystals, and...

ZnO and ZnO: Mn nanocrystals synthesized via reverse micelle method. The structural properties nanocrystals were investigated by XRD and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The XRD results indicate that the synthesized nanocrystals had a pure wurtzite (hexagonal phase) structure. The various optical properties of these nanocrystals such as optical band gap energy, refractive index, dielectr...

Nanocrystals of several oligosilanes have been fabricated easily by using a reprecipitation method. The nanocrystals reveal an intense absorption band at the UVB region (280 to 320 nm) and a fluorescence band with large Stokes shift. These photophysical properties show that the nanocrystals exhibit an excitonic interaction of the H-aggregate type.

Wittichenite (Cu(3)BiS(3)) nanocrystals have been synthesized utilizing a hot-injection method. They have been characterized in detail. Cu(3)BiS(3) nanocrystals possessed a band gap of 1.56 eV, and the corresponding nanocrystal-film shows a clear photoresponse in I-V measurements. Our work illustrates that Cu(3)BiS(3) nanocrystals have potential in the application of solar cells.

The objective of the present investigation was to study the influence of the occupational nickel exposure on the concentration of nickel in nasal mucosa, plasma and urine. Plasma, urine and biopsy specimens of nasal mucosa from 318 nickel workers, 15 retired nickel workers and 57 non-exposed controls were analyzed for nickel by atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that nickel expo...

Although nickel is an essential element for animal nutrition, the physiological role of nickel is not yet established. Pathological alterations of nickel metabolism are recognized in several human diseases. The diverse clinical manifestations of nickel toxicology include: (1) acute pneumonitis from inhalation of nickel carbonyl, (2) chronic rhinitis and sinusitis from inhalation of nickel aeros...

Fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots) have the potential to revolutionize biological imaging, but their use has been limited by difficulties in obtaining nanocrystals that are biocompatible. To address this problem, we encapsulated individual nanocrystals in phospholipid block-copolymer micelles and demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo imaging. When conjugated to DNA, the nano...