Thermoresponsive nanocomposite thin films composed of alternating layers of silica and polymerized N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) or NIPAM plus dodecyl methacrylate (DM) hydrogels were prepared by surfactant-directed evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA). During EISA, the organic monomers partition within the hydrophobic domains of a lamellar mesophase. In-situ polymerization via a free radic...

A facile approach has been developed to prepare ultra-small hybrid silica spheres with a diameter of ∼10 nm, which show highly enhanced penetration ability in 3D glioma spheroids compared to conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles.

Upconversion detection nanocomposites were assembled for the selective luminescent detection of mercury ions in water. A hydrophobic cyclometallated ruthenium complex [Ru(II)(bpy)2(thpy)]PF6 (abbreviated as Ru1; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine and thpy = 2-(2-thienyl)pyridine) is employed as a chemodosimeter to assemble on amphiphilic polymer-coating upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs) based on the hydrop...

The aim of our work is to study phase composition, particle size and magnetic response of Fe2O3/TiO2 nanocomposites with respect to the final annealing temperature. Those nanomaterials are considered as smart catalysts, separable from a liquid/gaseous phase by applied magnetic field. The starting product was obtained by an ecologically acceptable route, based on heterogeneous precipitation of t...

A finite strain nonlinear viscoplastic constitutive model for polyurethane (PU)–Montmorillonite clay (MTM) nanocomposites is developed with the goal of characterizing the mechanical response under different strain rates and strain amplitudes. In this model, both the elastic and viscous responses are considered to be nonlinear. It is shown that a simple mathematical extension of the model used t...

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...

Hybrid micro-/nano-silica architectures made of bacterial-body-templated silica shell attached with fimbriae-templated silica nanotubes were prepared by using living fimbriaed bacteria E. Coli TG1 as templates, which can function as individual bioreactors to catalyze the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl-beta-d-galactopyranoside to form p-nitrophenol due to the presence of an intracellular enzyme.

Core exchangeable polymer-silica hybrid capsules with solvent-selective permeability were fabricated, in which the internal silica layer, formed from pre-included precursors, has the role of a framework to prevent irreversible deformation of the hollow capsules.