The photocatalytic coatings were prepared via incorporating the modified titania nanoparticles into epoxy-based inorganic-organic hybrid coatings. Titania nanoparticles were first synthesized from tetra-n-butyl titanate using sol-gel methods by two different calcination treatments, i.e., in mild condition (80°C) and 500°C. The formed anatase nanoparticles were further modified as Titania-Silica...

The photocatalytic coatings were prepared via incorporating the modified titania nanoparticles into epoxy-based inorganic-organic hybrid coatings. Titania nanoparticles were first synthesized from tetra-n-butyl titanate using sol-gel methods by two different calcination treatments, i.e., in mild condition (80°C) and 500°C. The formed anatase nanoparticles were further modified as Titania-Silica...

High-temperature synthesized monodisperse superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles are obtained with a strongly bound ligand shell of oleic acid and its decomposition products. Most applications require a stable presentation of a defined surface chemistry; therefore, the native shell has to be completely exchanged for dispersants with irreversible affinity to the nanoparticle surface. We eval...

Plasmonic core-shell nanoparticles (PCSNPs) can function as nanoantennas and improve the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). To achieve maximum enhancement, the morphology of PCSNPs needs to be optimized. Here we precisely control the morphology of Au@TiO2 PCSNPs and systematically study its influence on the plasmonic enhancement effect. The enhancement mechanism was found to vary...

Functional properties tunability prospect of multi-layered and multi-metallic nanoparticles with respect to their emerging applications has always been the area of attraction. Magnetoplasmonic nanoparticles (MPNPs) present the possibility to exhibit their tuneable magnetic and optical properties with broad applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cancer therapy, photovoltaic solar cell...

Shape fluctuations in nanoparticles strongly influence their stability. Here, we introduce a quantitative model of such shape fluctuations and apply this model to the important case of Pt-shell/transition metal-core nanoparticles. By using a Gibbs distribution for the initial shapes, we find that there is typically enough thermal energy at room temperature to excite random shape fluctuations in...

Mesoporous-silica-coated Gd2O3:Eu/silica nanoparticles were synthesized by a multistep chemical process and characterized by XRD, TEM and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms in terms of size, morphology and porosity. The core Gd2O3:Eu obtained by this method was highly luminescent upon excitation, giving the function of cell imaging upon incubation with the human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells....

We use infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies to investigate the optically active phonon modes in InP nanoparticles and InP/II–VI core-shell nanoparticles fabricated by similar colloidal chemistry methods. The IR transmission spectra of several InP nanoparticle samples exhibit a common absorption feature, which we assign to the Fröhlich mode. The Raman results for the same samples show transver...

Polysaccharides are promising candidates for manufacturing biocompatible core-shell nanoparticles with potential in vivo use. Superparamagnetic magnetite nanoparticles (MNPs) have prospective application in both diagnosis and therapy, and so developing a novel polysaccharide shell on MNP core is of great challenge. MNPs were prepared by coprecipitation, then the surface of purified MNPs was coa...

Copper nanoparticles encapsulated by multi-layer graphene have been produced in large quantity (in grams) by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition at 600 C with copper(II) acetylacetonate powders as precursor. The obtained graphene/copper shell/core nanoparticles were found to be formed by a novel coalescence mechanism that is quite different from the well-known dissolution–precipitation mech...