Macrophages associated with implanted biomaterials are primary mediators of chronic inflammation and foreign body reaction to the implant. Hence, various approaches have been investigated to modulate macrophage interactions with biomaterial surfaces to mitigate inflammatory responses. Nanostructured materials possess unique surface properties, and nanotopography has been reported to modulate ce...

Investigations of complex nanostructured materials used in modern technologies require special experimental techniques able to provide information on the structure and electronic properties of materials with a spatial resolution down to the nanometer scale. We tried to address these needs through the combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) using synchrotron radiation microbeams with ...

Nanostructured zinc oxide (ZnO) materials have received considerable interest from scientists due to their remarkable performance in electronics, optics and photonics. ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method. ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized using Zn(NO3)3 and K2CO3 precursors. The structure of the obtained product was confirmed by the powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) anal...

In the present work, a nanostructured ZnO layer was synthesized onto a Metglas magnetoelastic ribbon to immobilize hemoglobin (Hb) on it and study the Hb's electrochemical behavior towards hydrogen peroxide. Hb oxidation by H₂O₂ was monitored simultaneously by two different techniques: Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Magnetoelastic Resonance (MR). The Metglas/ZnO/Hb system was simultaneously used a...

Thermoelectric materials have generated interest as a means of increasing the efficiency of power generation through the scavenging of waste heat. Materials containing nanometer-sized structural and compositional features can exhibit enhanced thermoelectric performance due to the decoupling of certain electrical and thermal properties, but the extent to which these features can be controlled is...

The aim of this study was to assess the activity of catalysts formed by nanostructured zinc oxide supported on stainless steel wire mesh for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue under UV irradiation. Catalysts prepared by means of different low temperature synthesis methods, as described in a previous work (Vu et al., Mater. Res. Bull. 47 (2012) 1577-1586) were tested. A new activit...

Improving the efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs), which are far less efficient than inorganic semiconductor solar cells, is of paramount importance to the field of polymer photovoltaics. Current state-of-the-art bulk heterojunction (BHJ) OSCs utilize a homogeneous blend of the semiconducting polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and the fullerene derivative [6,6]-phenyl C61butyric acid me...

Supported Au nanoparticles (NPs) with sizes < 5 nm have been proved to be highly active for many important catalytic reactions [1]. The development of thermally stable supported Au NP catalysts, however, is challenging. Unlike other noble metals, Au NPs or clusters sinter rapidly during catalytic reactions at elevated temperatures or even under long-term storage [2]. There are many approaches t...

We present results derived from continuous and localized 35 keV (55)Mn(+) ion implantations into ZnO. Localized implantations were carried out by using self-ordered alumina membranes as masks leading to ordered arrays of implanted volumes on the substrate surfaces. Defects and vacancies in the small implantation volumes of ZnO were generated due to the implantation processes besides the creatio...