Microstructure Of Nanomaterials Research Articles

Histone demethylase KDM3B mediates matrix stiffness-induced osteogenic differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells

Biomechanical signals in the extracellular niche are considered promising for programming the lineage specification of stem cells. Recent studies have reported that biomechanics, such as the microstructure of nanomaterials, can induce adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) to differentiate into osteoblasts, mediating gene regulation at the epigenetic level. Therefore, in this study, transcriptome expression levels of histone demethylases in ASCs were screened after treatment with different matrix stiffnesses, and histone lysine demethylase 3B (KDM3B) was found to promote osteogenic differentiation of ASCs in response to matrix stiffness, indicating a positive modulatory effect on this biological process. ASCs exhibited widespread and polygonal shapes with a distinct bundle-like expression of vinculin parallel to the axial cytoskeleton along the cell margins on the stiff matrix rather than round shapes with a smeared and shorter expression on the soft matrix. Comparatively rigid polydimethylsiloxane material directed ASCs into an osteogenic phenotype in inductive culture media via the upregulation of osteocalcin, alkaline phosphatase, and runt-related transcription factor 2. Treatment with KDM3B-siRNA decreased the expression of osteogenic differentiation markers and impaired mitochondrial dynamics and mitochondrial membrane potential. These results illustrate the critical role of KDM3B in the biomechanics-induced osteogenic commitment of ASCs and provide new avenues for the further application of stem cells as potential therapeutics for bone regeneration.

Synthesis of Co@N-doped carbon with yolk–shell heterostructures for efficient electromagnetic wave absorption

Regulating the composition and microstructure of nanomaterials is a major challenge in the development of high-performance materials for electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. This paper introduces a new lightweight EMW-absorbing material Co@N/C with a yolk–shell structure and compositions of ferromagnetic metal and carbon materials. The minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of the as-designed Co@N/C nanospheres with a filler loading of 25 wt% reaches −67.68 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth of a 1.9 mm thickness is 5.3 GHz. The exceptional absorption performance of the EMW absorption is primarily achieved through the synergistic effect between the Co–carbonaceous material and the yolk–shell structure, which optimizes the impedance matching. The polarization loss, conductivity loss, magnetic loss, and multiple scattering mainly contribute to the excellent EMW-absorption ability of the materials. The proposed method for regulating the structure and morphology of Co@N/C can efficiently construct high-performance EMW absorbers.

Application of nuclear analytical spectroscopies and ion beams to the study of nanomaterials: cooperative projects between Vinatom and JINR (Dubna)

Due to the rapid scientific and technological development in the last decades, basic research in solid state physics, chemistry and material science has focused on objects and phenomena more and more confined in dimensions and time-scale, and well visible for the general publicity by introducing the terms “nanophysics, nanoscience, nanomaterials, etc.”, often featured in the media. Researchers therefore keep searching for better and better investigative techniques. Various nuclear analytical spectroscopies, such as Positron annihilation lifetime (PAL), Doppler broadening of positron annihilation energy (DB), Electron momentum distribution (EMD), Slow positron beam (SPB), Neutron diffractions (ND), Rutherford backscattering (RBS), etc., have proved themselves as useful tools for microscopic analysis of different material’s structure ranging from angstrom (Ȧ) to nanometer (nm) scales. Besides, ion beams generated from accelerators (electron, 1H, 2He, 40Ar, 86Kr, 109Ag, 123Xe, 184W, etc.) have also become very effective tools for modifying the micro structure of nanomaterials. These methods have been intensively utilized by our group at Vinatom with external collaborations from JINR (Dubna) in order to study the in-depth structure of different nanomaterials. This report introduces our research and collaborative activities, facilities and some recent highlighted results.

Lateral growth of cylinders

The precise control of the shape, size and microstructure of nanomaterials is of high interest in chemistry and material sciences. However, living lateral growth of cylinders is still very challenging. Herein, we propose a crystallization-driven fusion-induced particle assembly (CD-FIPA) strategy to prepare cylinders with growing diameters by the controlled fusion of spherical micelles self-assembled from an amphiphilic homopolymer. The spherical micelles are heated upon glass transition temperature (Tg) to break the metastable state to induce the aggregation and fusion of the amorphous micelles to form crystalline cylinders. With the addition of extra spherical micelles, these micelles can attach onto and fuse with the cylinders, showing the living character of the lateral growth of cylinders. Computer simulations and mathematical calculations are preformed to reveal the total energy changes of the nanostructures during the self-assembly and CD-FIPA process. Overall, we demonstrated a CD-FIPA concept for preparing cylinders with growing diameters.

Metal-organic framework derived hollow CoFe@C composites by the tunable chemical composition for efficient microwave absorption

Controlling the composition and microstructure of nanomaterials is still a significant challenge in developing high-performance microwave absorption (MA) materials. Herein, metal–organic framework (MOF)-derived hollow CoFe@C nanoboxes are designed and prepared through the facile regulating the mass ratios of ZIF-67/PFC and a thermal annealing treatment. The CoFe@C composite can achieve an excellent MA performance, which have two high reflection loss (RL) values at different thickness. A RL value of −31.0 dB is obtained at 11.84 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.4 mm, and a RL value can reach −44.1 dB (4.08 GHz) at a matching thickness of 5.8 mm, and a correspondingly wide absorbing bandwidth (5.20 GHz, from 9.7 to 14.9 GHz) is simultaneously obtained at a matching thickness of 2.3 mm. The magnetic loss, interfacial polarization and hollow structure are the main reasons for their excellent MA capability. This work provides a research idea for the development of the efficient MOF-based MA materials in practical application.

Preparation and thermal properties characterization of carbonate salt/carbon nanomaterial composite phase change material

To enhance the performance of high temperature salt phase change material, four kinds of carbon nanomaterials with different microstructures were mixed into binary carbonate eutectic salts to prepare carbonate salt/nanomaterial composite phase change material. The microstructures of the nanomaterial and composite phase change material were characterized by scanning electron microscope. The thermal properties such as melting point, melting enthalpy, specific heat, thermal conductivity and total thermal energy storage capacity were characterized. The results show that the nanomaterial microstructure has great effects on composite phase change material thermal properties. The sheet structure Graphene is the best additive to enhance specific heat, which could be enhanced up to 18.57%. The single walled carbon nanotube with columnar structure is the best additive to enhance thermal conductivity, which could be enhanced up to 56.98%. Melting point increases but melting enthalpy decreases with nanomaterial specific surface area increase. Although the additives decrease the melting enthalpy of composite phase change material, they also enhance the specific heat. As a combined result, the additives have little effects on thermal energy storage capacity. So, for phase change material performance enhancement, more emphasis should be placed on thermal conductivity enhancement and single walled carbon nanotube is the optimal nanomaterial additive.

ZnO/TiO2 Nanocomposite Synthesized by Sol Gel from Highly Soluble Single Source Molecular Precursor

Single source molecular precursors (SSPs) provide an opportunity to get control over the microstructure of nanomaterials at atomic level. A SSP was designed and developed for the synthesis of ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite by sol gel method. In a typical synthesis process, a bimetallic molecular compound with chemical formula [Cl2TiZn(dmae)4] (dmae=dimethylaminoethanol) was synthesized and its chemical composition was determined by elemental analysis. The obtained compound has shown excellent solubility in common organic solvents, a prerequisite for its use in sol gel method as SSP. The SSP obtained was controllably hydrolyzed by adding equimolar amount of water using ethanol as solvent to get ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite gel. The resulting gel was precipitated at pH=9 and sintered at 200 °C (T200), 400 °C (T400), and 600 °C (T600). The XRD analyses have shown that the as synthesized (non-sintered, T00) powder was amorphous. However, the crystallinity improved upon sintering, and the XRD analyses revealed that the resulting nanomaterials were composed of mixed oxides i.e., ZnO and TiO2. The ZnO was in wurtzite (hexagonal) while the TiO2 was in brookite (orthorhombic) phase. The increase in particle size was further confirmed from BET analysis and SEM micrographs. The IR spectra obtained for the resulting powder have shown the peculiar vibrational bands for Zn-O and Ti-O. Furthermore, the IR spectra revealed that the non-sintered ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposite had significant number of OH group which was removed upon sintering. The photocatalytic activities of the ZnO/TiO2 nanocomposites were tested. All the samples have shown good photocatalytic activities. However, the T400 has shown higher activity than the T00, T200, and T600. The higher photocatalytic activity of T400 than T00, T200, and T600 may be due to improved crystallinity which ensures efficient grain boundary interfaces.

Structural interpretation of SnO2nanocrystals of different morphologies synthesized by microwave irradiation and hydrothermal methods

The detailed understanding of the crystal structure and microstructure of nanomaterials is useful to predict the properties of nanomaterials. SnO2 nanocrystals of different shapes like particles, spheres, rods and pyramids are chemically synthesized. Here, we report the crystal structure and microstructure of SnO2 nanocrystals of different morphologies using X-ray diffraction and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). It is interesting to note that the tetragonal phase is found in particle, sphere and rod shaped SnO2 nanocrystals and pyramid shaped nanocrystals are composed of two types of orthorhombic phases. The Rietveld method has been used for refining simultaneously the atomic structure and microstructure of different SnO2 nanocrystals, and the growth mechanisms in different shapes are found to be different due to different preferential growth. Structural defects such as oxygen vacancies, deformation of unit cell and more importantly texturing effects are associated with change in bond length, bond angle and crystallite morphology. Size and lattice strain of different kinds of SnO2 nanocrystals are also studied in detail by using the Rietveld method of analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).