Magnetic fluids are stable colloidal suspensions of ferromagnetic nano-particles (of size 10-20 nm) in a nonmagnetic liquid carrier. An initially uniform particle distribution in the carrier becomes spatially inhomogeneous in nonuniform magnetic fields. Motion of particles in magnetic fluids under the action of magnetic fields is of particular interest for contemporary mathematical and numerica...

Highly stable colloidal hyaluronic acid coated magnetic nano-particles were prepared via a ligand exchange method. These particles exhibited excellent cell labeling efficiencies and superior potential as MRI contrast agents, which are useful to target tumor cells expressing hyaluronic acid receptors such as CD44.

Nano-structured crystalline tungsten(vi) oxides (WO(3)) were prepared using a colloidal crystal template method; these materials have increased specific surface area compared to crystalline WO(3) prepared without the template, and after platinum loading they show enhanced photocatalytic activity for acetic acid decomposition under visible light.

Nanofluid connotes a colloidal suspension with dispersed nano-sized particles. Experiments in the past decade reveal that nanofluids have a significantly higher thermal conductivity in comparison to that of the base fluid. Recently, a number of phenomenological models have been proposed to explain the anomalous heat transfer enhancement seen in nanofluids. In this paper, we make a systematic su...

Topological defects in liquid crystals not only affect the optical and rheological properties of the host, but can also act as scaffolds in which to trap nano or micro-sized colloidal objects. The creation of complex defect shapes, however, often involves confining the liquid crystals in curved geometries or adds complex-shaped colloidal objects, which are unsuitable for device applications. Us...

Epitaxial growth, a bottom-up self-assembly process for creating surface nano- and microstructures, has been extensively studied in the context of atoms. This process, however, is also a promising route to self-assembly of nanometer- and micrometer-scale particles into microstructures that have numerous technological applications. To determine whether atomic epitaxial growth laws are applicable...

We report on the synthesis, microstructure and mass transport properties of a colloidal hydrogel self-assembled from a mixture of colloidal silica and nontronite clay plates at different particle concentrations. The gel-structure had uniaxial long-range anisotropy caused by alignment of the clay particles in a strong external magnetic field. After gelation the colloidal silica covered the clay ...

In this study, the antimicrobial activity of colloidal silver nanoparticles prepared by the sol-gel method was investigated, and the turbidity, viscosity and pH of the colloidal solutions were determined. The size of the silver nanoparticles was measured by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of the colloidal solution resistance to test microorganisms...

Even colloidal polytypic nanostructures show promising future in band-gap tuning and alignment, researches on them have been much less reported than the standard nano-heterostructures because of the difficulties involved in synthesis. Up to now, controlled synthesis of colloidal polytypic nanocrsytals has been only realized in II-VI tetrapod and octopod nanocrystals with branched configurations...