Natural Nanomaterial Research Articles

The Horizons of Medical Mineralogy: Structure-Bioactivity Relationship and Biomedical Applications of Halloysite Nanoclay.

Medical mineralogy explores the interactions between natural minerals and living organisms such as cells, tissues, and organs and develops therapeutic and diagnostic applications in drug delivery, medical devices, and healthcare materials. Many minerals (especially clays) have been recognized for pharmacological activities and therapeutic potential. Halloysite clay (Chinese medicine name: Chishizhi), manifested as one-dimensional aluminum silicate nanotubes (halloysite nanotubes, HNTs), has gained applications in hemostasis, wound repair, gastrointestinal diseases, tissue engineering, detection and sensing, cosmetics, and daily chemicals formulations. Various biomedical applications of HNTs are derived from hollow tubular structures, high mechanical strength, good biocompatibility, bioactivity, and unique surface characteristics. This natural nanomaterial is safe, abundantly available, and may be processed with environmentally safe green chemistry methods. This review describes the structure and physicochemical properties of HNTs relative to bioactivity. We discuss surface area, porosity and surface defects, hydrophilicity, heterogeneity and charge of external and internal surfaces, as well as biosafety. The paper provides comprehensive guidance for the development of this tubule nanoclay and its advanced biomedical applications for clinical diagnosis and therapy.

Transient Pressure Behavior of CBM Wells during the Injection Fall-Off Test Considering the Quadratic Pressure Gradient.

Conventional coalbed methane (CBM) reservoir models for injection fall-off testing often disregard the quadratic pressure gradient's impact. This omission leads to discrepancies in simulating the transient behavior of formation fluids and extracting critical reservoir properties. Accurate determination of permeability, storability, and other properties is crucial for effective reservoir characterization and production forecasting. Inaccurate estimations can lead to suboptimal well placement, ineffective production strategies, and ultimately, missed economic opportunities. To address this shortcoming, we present a novel analytical model that explicitly incorporates the complexities of the quadratic pressure gradient and dual-permeability flow mechanisms, prevalent in many CBM formations where nanopores are rich, presenting a kind of natural nanomaterial. This model offers significant advantages over traditional approaches. By leveraging variable substitution, it facilitates the derivation of analytical solutions in the Laplace domain, subsequently converted to real-space solutions for practical application. These solutions empower reservoir engineers to generate novel type curves, a valuable tool for analyzing wellbore pressure responses during injection fall-off tests. By identifying distinct flow regimes within the reservoir based on these type curves, engineers gain valuable insights into the dynamic behavior of formation fluids. This model goes beyond traditional approaches by investigating the influence of the quadratic pressure gradient coefficient, inter-porosity flow coefficient, and storability ratio on the pressure response. A quantitative comparison with traditional models further elucidates the key discrepancies caused by neglecting the quadratic pressure gradient. The results demonstrate the proposed model's ability to accurately depict the non-linear flow behavior observed in CBM wells. This translates to more reliable pressure and pressure derivative curves that account for the impact of the quadratic pressure gradient.

Nanocellulose as Sustainable Bio-Nanomaterial for Packaging and Biomedical Applications

Fibrous substrates made of cellulose like paper and paperboard are widely used in packaging. Furthermore, cellulose materials are biodegradable and completely safe for the environment. The water vapor barrier properties of paper and paperboard are limited due to the hydrophilic nature of cellulose fibrils. Paper is frequently combined with other materials, such as plastics, wax, and aluminum to improve its water barrier properties. Unfortunately, these materials lead to significant environmental problems and are difficult to recycle. Nanocellulose has shown the potential of being a substitute natural nanomaterial for creating environmentally friendly and sustainable barrier materials for a range of uses, including food packaging materials and substrates for the development of functional materials. Numerous cellulose sources can be used to create nanocellulose, which offers benefits like a high aspect ratio and tensile strength, making it useful for a variety of applications. The production of nanocellulose is done through a variety of processes. Potential biomedical applications of nanocellulose are tissue engineering, drug delivery, wound dressings, biosensors, implants and prosthetics, and nerve regeneration. Its application in these fields will result in the advancement of medical technology and the improvement of healthcare outcomes. Furthermore, biodegradable materials, barrier coatings, antimicrobial packaging, sustainable packaging solutions, smart packaging, and lightweight, high-strength packaging can all be made with nanocellulose. Nanocellulose-based packaging will improve the sustainability and efficiency of the packaging supply chain while providing environmentally friendly substitutes for conventional packaging materials.

Evaluation of Accumulation Potency of Arka Plant Varieties for Metals and Nutrients through Natural Biological Treatment

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a natural biological treatment system for wastewater using Red soil, Arka Darshan, Arka Tilak, Arka Nirantara, and Arka Prajwal plants. The system employs clay as a natural nanomaterial for adsorption of substances such as nitrates, phosphates, potassium, and heavy metals. The soil contains numerous microorganisms that decompose organic matter into simpler compounds, while the plants use phytoremediation to uptake heavy metals and nutrients. The study measured the system’s efficiency in reducing Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Phosphate, Magnesium, Zinc, Nitrate, Sodium, and Potassium. The results showed that the system had an average efficiency of 98% in COD and 96% in BOD removal, and contributed an efficiency of 99% TSS and 46% TDS. The system also removed nitrates and phosphates, which cause eutrophication in water bodies, by 76% and 72%, respectively. Additionally, heavy metals like chromium, Nickel and Zinc were reduced by up to 81%, 71% and 59%. The study suggests that the natural biological treatment system is a sustainable and effective alternative to conventional wastewater treatment, particularly in sparsely populated rural areas. Therefore, we can conclude that this system has potential for wider adoption in treating wastewater.

Sustainable Applications of Nanopropolis to Combat Foodborne Illnesses.

Propolis has numerous biological properties and technological potential, but its low solubility in water makes its use quite difficult. With the advent of nanotechnology, better formulations with propolis, such as nanopropolis, can be achieved to improve its properties. Nanopropolis is a natural nanomaterial with several applications, including in the maintenance of food quality. Food safety is a global public health concern since food matrices are highly susceptible to contamination of various natures, leading to food loss and transmission of harmful foodborne illness. Due to their smaller size, propolis nanoparticles are more readily absorbed by the body and have higher antibacterial and antifungal activities than common propolis. This review aims to understand whether using propolis with nanotechnology can help preserve food and prevent foodborne illness. Nanotechnology applied to propolis formulations proved to be effective against pathogenic microorganisms of industrial interest, making it possible to solve problems of outbreaks that can occur through food.

Bacterial cellulose: A highly versatile nanomaterial.

Bacterial cellulose: A highly versatile nanomaterial.

Preparation of spherical microparticles composed of cellulose nanofiber and cellulose diacetate via Pickering emulsion templating

Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) derived from woody bioresources is a fascinating natural nanomaterial. In this work, spherical microparticles were fabricated by using TEMPO-oxidized CNF (TOCNF) and cellulose diacetate (CDA) via Pickering emulsion templating. The CDA-dissolved organic solvents were emulsified stably with TOCNF, followed by removing the solvents to form microspheres with core-shell structures, where the CDA cores were covered with the TOCNF shells. The prepared spherical microparticles possessed an average diameter and sphericity index of 6.4 μm and 0.96, respectively. The zeta-potential value was approximately -48 mV, indicating the stable colloidal system in water. The CDA/TOCNF microparticles were stained with toluidine blue dye for negatively-charged TOCNF. Besides, furry nanofiber-like morphology was observed on the particle surface by scanning electron microscopy. Wood-derived CDA/TOCNF microspheres are a promising alternative to fossil resource-derived, non-biodegradable microbeads in cosmetic applications.

Nanocellulose-based electrodes and separator toward sustainable and flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor

Nanocellulose, as the most abundant natural nanomaterial with sustainability, biodegradability, and excellent mechanical properties, has been widely applied in modern electronic systems, particularly, in the flexible electrochemical energy storage devices. Herein, a reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/cellulose nanocrystal/cellulose nanofiber (RCC) composite membrane was prepared by using a one-pot method. Compared to the pure RGO membranes, the RCC composite membranes exhibited better mechanical properties and hydrophilicity. Furthermore, due to the synergistic effect of nanocellulose and RGO sheets, the RCC composite membrane exhibited a specific capacitance as high as 171.3 F·cm−3. Consequently, a nanocellulose-based symmetric flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor (FASC) was constructed, in which two RCC composite membranes served as electrodes and a porous cellulose nanofiber membrane acted as separator. This fabricated FASC demonstrated a high volumetric specific capacitance of 164.3 F·cm−3 and a satisfactory energy density of 3.7 mW·h·cm−3, which exceeded that of many other FASCs ever reported. This work may open a new avenue in design of next-generation nanocellulose based, sustainable and flexible energy storage device.

Size effect of cellulose nanocrystals in cellular internalization and exosome-packaging exocytosis

With the purpose of investigating the bio-interaction between CNC and cells, the end-fluorescence CNC (FCNC) and surface-adsorbed glucosamine [(g)FCNC] were prepared by the region-selective modification and electrostatic adsorption strategy in this study. The cell growth was arrested in a time dependent manner when incubated with CNC in the low glucose environment. The small-size FCNC was preferred by the cells with the observation of higher affinity. Specifically, the affinity of (g)FCNC to the phagocytic cell RAW264.7 cell and kidney derived cell 293 t was generally increased in response to the “Warburg effect”, which on the contrary was observed with the weak effect in the tumor cells. We confirmed the exocytosis of internalized rod-like nanocrystal was achieved by the packaging effect of exosomes. Our results revealed the underappreciated bio-interaction between CNC and different cells, which contributed the evidence of an inspiration for this natural nanomaterial in the cell-level application.

Weavable and wearable strip-shaped supercapacitors from bamboo cellulose nanofibers

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), as an attractive renewable natural nanomaterial, are receiving intense research interests in various fields, including energy storage. Although great progress has been achieved in the past decade, there remains some technical challenges especially in the fabrication of weavable and wearable CNFs-based energy devices. Herein, we proposed a novel strategy to prepare a strip-shaped supercapacitor (SC) of this kind, which was intrinsically inspired by the traditional Chinese bamboo weaving. To this end, CNFs were first extracted from bamboo pulp and subsequently applied to stabilize the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) aqueous suspension. After vacuum filtration of the CNFs/CNTs suspension, cutting into strips, and then in situ growth of polyaniline (PANI), a ternary hybrid strip was finally obtained. This CNTs/CNFs-PANI strip was mechanically strong and flexible. It could be directly utilized as the electrode for the assembly of strip-shaped all-solid-state SCs, which showed both high flexibility and electrochemical stability. Interestingly, such SCs could be easily woven into a fabric to form a flexible and wearable energy supply device and successfully power wearable electronics.

Physicochemical characterization of natural nanomaterial as a sustainable replacement of cement

The adoption of nanotechnology will benefit the building sector. Nowadays, there is a lot of interest in using Nano-materials to improve the qualities of ordinary concrete. The objective of this research is to generate Cellulose Nano Fibers (CNFs) from plantain peel, then check, if they can improve the quality of concrete by partially replacing CNFs with cement. Initially, raw banana peel is collected and sun-dried for a few days, after it is crushed using a ball milling method to produce cellulose nanofiber. Then, obtained CNFs are partially replaced by the ordinary Portland cement as 1%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 4%. Moreover, concrete was produced using these partial replacements of CNFs. Furthermore, various tests are performed on the cement, fine aggregate, coarse aggregate, and concrete. As a result, an increase in CNFs, workability (consistency, setting time, and soundness) are all increasing, moreover, in concrete, compressive strength, flexural strength, and split tensile strength all increased with the curing period of 3 days, 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days. The compressive strength increased as the number of curing days increased. For all curing ages, it was discovered that a 3.5 % CNF, 10 % of Metakaolin, 7.5 % of Silica Fume replacement provided the maximum strength.

Dps protein localization studies in nanostructured silicon matrix by scanning electron microscopy

The present work is related to the microscopic studies of the morphology of the planar and inner part of silicon nanowires arrays before and after immobilization with a natural nanomaterial, Dps protein of bacterial origin. Silicon nanowires were formed by metal-assisted wet chemical etching. To obtain the recombinant protein, Escherichia coli cells were used as excretion strain and purification were carried out using chromatography. The combination of silicon nanowires with protein molecules was carried out by layering at laboratory conditions followed by drying under air. The resulting hybrid material was studied by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. Studies of the developed surface of the nanowires array were carried out before and after combining with the bioculture. The initial arrays of silicon wireshave a sharp boundaries in the planar part and in the depth of the array, transition layers are not observed. The diameter of the silicon nanowires is about 100 nm, the height is over a micrometer, while the distances between the nanowires are several hundred of nanometers. The pores formed in this way are available for filling with protein during the immobilization of protein.The effectiveness of using the scanning electron microscopy to study the surface morphology of the hybrid material “silicon wires – bacterial protein Dps” has been demonstrated. It is shown that the pores with an extremely developed surface can be combined with a bio-material by deposition deep into cavities. The protein molecules can easily penetrate through whole porous wires matrix array. The obtained results demonstrate the possibility of efficient immobilization of nanoscaled Dps protein molecules into an accessible and controllably developed surface of silicon nanowires.

Diatomite – evaluation of physico-mechanical, chemical, mineralogical and thermal properties

Diatomite is one of the most intensively examined raw materials in the materials industry with a broad range of various applications. The diatomite sample, collected from Vitačevo plateau in the vicinity of Kavadarci, was fully characterized by means of physical-mechanical, chemical, XRPD, SEM, TEM, DTA/TGA and IR techniques. The physical-mechanical features pointed out to soft, light, white to gray rock with shell-like structure exhibiting compressive strength from 4.65–4.88 MPa in dry form, whereas the total porosity ranges 70–72% and the density is 2.06–2.09 g/cm3. The chemical analysis of the diatomite revealed that SiO2 content exceeds 91%. The results from the X-ray powder diffraction indicate predominant amorphous SiO2 phase associated with minor presence of crystalline quartz, muscovite, chlorites and plagioclase. The IR spectrum of the diatomite manifested characteristic bands for amorphous silica at 799 cm–1 and 1101 cm–1. DTA/TGA results display great thermal stability of the sample remaining amorphous up to 1050ºC whereas the SEM analysis determined the morphology, surface characteristics and the nanometric pores in the raw material. Thus, the studied diatomite is classified as a natural nanomaterial that is suitable for broad application in various construction materials, refractory ceramics, special oxide ceramics, and also finds potential use in filtering, adsorbent, catalysts, food and pharmaceutical industries.

Determining the Aspect Ratio of Palygorskite by Dynamic Laser Light Scattering and X-Ray Diffraction Analysis Techniques

As a natural two-dimensional nanomaterial, palygorskite has been widely used in the fields of biology, chemical industry, medicine, and agriculture. Recently, more and more researchers point out that the aspect ratio of palygorskite directly affects the properties of its composite materials. Due to the large specific surface area and the tiny width of the palygorskite rod-like particles, it is difficult to obtain the aspect ratio information quickly and accurately by conventional means such as microphotography method and specific surface area method. In this paper, the length and width of the crystal is measured quickly and accurately by using dynamic laser light scattering technique and X-ray diffraction technique, so that the aspect ratio of the crystal can be calculated easily. It is recommended to analyze the crystallite size and microstrain of the diffraction pattern of palygorskite that using Pearson VII function, Caglioti equation, and average (LANGFORD) method, after comparing the three modes of W.-H. method. This feasible method has a good application prospect of the study of rod-like nanomaterials.

Exploring of new natural Saudi nanoparticles: investigation and characterization

A new natural nanomaterial in Saudi Arabian soil has been explored. It is green nanoclay consisting of two-dimensional nanoparticles with special properties and dimensions. These nanoparticles are called Saudi halloysite-like nanotubes (SHNTs) because they are similar to halloysite nanotubes (HNTs). SHNTs are transparent having a special cross-section in polygonal shapes, such as hexagonal, with unique dimensions in comparison to that of HNTs. Additionally, external width of SHNTs is 20–50 nm, length is 50–600 nm and can reach 10,000 nm while lumen width of SHNTs is larger than that of HNT, along with SHNTs having thinner walls; these attributes make SHNTs good as nanocontainer. Surface area of SHNTs (168 m2/g) is larger than surface area of HNTs (65 m2/g). SHNTs are bendable with a slight curvature, while HNTs are always straight. Geometry, dimensions, microstructure, chemical composition, surface area and zeta potential of SHNTs are characterized using SEM, TEM, EDX, Langmuir surface area technique, a laser particle size analyser and ZP analysis. SHNTs have many applications in industrial, medical and advanced nanocomposite production. Experimental work has been carried out on nanocomposites made of HDPE reinforced with 5% SHNTs, proving enhancements in mechanical, fracture and thermal properties of original HDPE materials.

Amphiphilic polymer-grafted palygorskite nanorods via surface olefin cross-metathesis for versatile applications

As an abundant natural nanomaterial, clay mineral has been intensely investigated for various applications, especially after surface modification with polymer. Here, amphiphilic polymer-grafted palygorskite (P-Pal) nanorods were prepared via surface olefin cross-metathesis reaction between the vinyl modified palygorskite (V-Pal) nanorods and acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR). After the surface olefin cross-metathesis reaction under the optimized condition, the resultant P-Pal nanorods could be well dispersed into water and toluene respectively, indicating the amphiphilic property with the grafted polymer molecules as the hydrophobic groups and clay nanorods as hydrophilic substance. The P-Pal nanorods showed promising applications as nano-reinforcing agent in polymer-based nanocomposites, self-separable adsorbent for waste water treatment, and hybrid surfactant for Pickering emulsion.

Nanomaterials and nanotechnology for composites: synthesis, structure, properties and new application opportunities

Nanomaterials and nanotechnology for composites: synthesis, structure, properties and new application opportunities

Advance Study of Cellulose Nanocrystals Properties and Applications

Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) received great attention in various fields, because of their high efficacy, high aspect ratio, low density, renewability and non-toxicity which make them ideal candidates. Here, various properties and applications especially, thermal, mechanical, adhesives, coatings etc., to introduce CNCs, a hydrophilic and colloidally stable, rigid rod-shaped bio-based nanomaterial with high strength and high surface area. CNCs enhance properties of different compounds under different conditions. The research in the last decade reveals that couple of years CNCs possesses high nature, than any other kind of compound, widely used in industrial and other products, as well as for human benefits. Over the past decade, CNCs is an abundant natural nanomaterial with great potential, has attracted many researches towards its use. Dispersing in polar solvent, they assemble to form multiphase or higher order structures yielding desirable optical and structural properties. The present review summarizes the recent achievements in the development of CNCs templating, highlights considerable progress has been achieved in addressing these multidimensional properties and potential use of CNCs in a wide range of high-tech applications in different fields.

High-strength paper enhanced by chitin nanowhiskers and its potential bioassay applications

In this paper, nanochitin was used as an alternative natural nanomaterial to combine with cellulose fibers for fabricating high-strength paper. Two typical chitin nanowhiskers having contrasting sign of surface charge were compared to evaluate the enhancement performance on paper in details. The results show that nanochitin with positive charges on the surface has a significant effect on the strength properties of the prepared paper, especially on wet strength. When the dosage of chitin nanowhiskers was 2%, the wet strength index was increased to 2.48 N·m/g, which is important for paper-based analytical devices with the common use in liquid analysis. Typical colorimetric glucose assays were successfully performed, suggesting the improved analytical performance on these prepared paper.

Ultrasensitive Physical, Bio, and Chemical Sensors Derived from 1-, 2-, and 3-D Nanocellulosic Materials.

Sensors are of increasing interest since they can be applied to daily life in different areas from various industrial sectors. As a natural nanomaterial, nanocellulose plays a vital role in the development of novel sensors, particularly in the context of constructing multidimensional architectures. This review summarizes the utilization of nanocellulose including cellulose nanofibers, cellulose nanocrystals, and bacterial cellulose for sensor design, mainly focusing on the influence of nanocellulose on the sensing performance of these sensors. Special attention is paid to nanocellulose in different forms (1D, 2D, and 3D) to highlight the impact of nanocellulose constructed structures. The aim is to provide a critical review on the most recent progress (especially after 2017) related to nanocellulose-containing sensors, since there are significantly increasing research activities in this area. Moreover, the outlook for the development of nanocellulose-containing sensors is also provided at the end of this work.