A collaborative trial was conducted to determine the performance characteristics of an analytical method for the quantification of inorganic arsenic (iAs) in food. The method is based on (i) solubilisation of the protein matrix with concentrated hydrochloric acid to denature proteins and allow the release of all arsenic species into solution, and (ii) subsequent extraction of the inorganic arse...

Bioactive glasses are able to bond to bone and stimulate the growth of new tissue while dissolving over time, which makes them ideal materials for regenerative medicine. The advent of mesoporous glasses, which are typically synthesized via sol-gel routes, allowed researchers to develop a broad and versatile class of novel biomaterials that combine superior bone regenerative potential (compared ...

Strategies for bone tissue engineering and regeneration rely on bioactive scaffolds to mimic the natural extracellular matrix and act as templates onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function. Of particular interest are nanocomposites and organic-inorganic (O/I) hybrid biomaterials based on selective combinations of biodegradable polymers and bioactive inorganic materials. In this pa...

In recent years, Lanthanide (Ln3+)-doped nanocrystals have become promising alternatives to organic fluorophore because Ln3+ ions can exhibit unique luminescent properties, such as large anti-Stokes shifts, low auto fluorescence background, low toxicity and high penetration depth [1]. In terms of the mechanism of luminescence, luminescence of Ln3+ ions can be divided into down-conversion and up...

As the concentration of methylmercury (MeHg) in the environment is insignificant, hair can be used as a suitable matrix to estimate endogenous MeHg exposure. Avalidated analytical method with AMA 254 spectrometer was used for the determination of inorganic mercury and methylmercury species in the hair of dentists, workers in fish industry and professionally non-exposed adults. ANOVA and QC Expe...

We introduce and discuss an interpretative model of the structure and bonding of inorganic crystals containing metallic elements. The central idea is the conception of the crystal structure of such an inorganic compound as a metallic matrix whose geometric and electronic structures govern the formation and localization of the anions in the lattice. This is the reason for labelling the model ani...

Composite materials may be restricted to emphasize those materials that contain a continuous matrix constituent that binds together and provides form to an array of a stronger, stiffer reinforcement constituent. The resulting composite material has a balance of structural properties that is superior to either constituent material alone. Combining the advantages of inorganic and organic componen...

Polymer-inorganic nanocrystal composites offer an attractive means to combine the merits of organic and inorganic materials into novel electronic and photonic systems. However, many applications of these composites are limited by the solubility and distribution of the nanocrystals in the polymer matrices. Here we show that blending CdTe nanoparticles into a polymer-fullerene matrix followed by ...

A novel enzymatic reactor was prepared by incorporating SBA-15 nanoparticles into hybrid organic-inorganic monolith and immobilizing trypsin with glutaraldehyde as bridging reagent. Preparation and operation conditions including nanoparticles percentage and residence time were optimized to improve the digestion efficiency. The digestion products were characterized by Matrix Assisted Laser Desor...

Biopolymers and biopolymer colloids can act as controlling agents and templates not only in many processes in nature, but also in a wide range of synthetic approaches. Inorganic materials can be either synthesized ex situ and later incorporated into a biopolymer structuring matrix or grown in situ in the presence of biopolymers. In this review, we focus mainly on the latter case and distinguish...