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Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Advanced Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 19501

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Łukasz Laskowski

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Guest Editor

Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Interests: nanotechnology; functional materials; molecular engineering; biomaterials; nanoelectronics; single-molecule magnets; nanocomposites
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Composite materials can be defined as a matter made of two or more materials possessing different chemical or physical properties, where after merging, the resulting product shows disparate, often superior, characteristics. For the case of the nanocomposite, the constituent materials should have distinctive phases, and the dimension of at least one of them should be less than 100 nanometers. Sometimes, the structure of a nanocomposite has nano-scale repeat distances between the different phases that make up the material. One of the examples of nanocomposites can be host–guest systems. Here, silica seems to be an ideal matrix. Such silica-based nanocomposites are widely used in electronics, energy storage, sensing, catalysis, or even in antimicrobial systems. Their synthesis has become an important research field in recent years.

This Special Issue is devoted to silica-based nanocomposites. Its aim is to publish several high-quality original research articles along with reviews presenting advances in the preparation, characterization, and application of such materials, as well as the relevant prospects, opportunities, and challenges connected with such systems.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

Synthesis of silica-based nanocomposite materials;
Functional silica-based materials;
Ordered porous functional thin films;
Methods of thin films functionalization;
Multifunctional and intelligent materials based on silica matrices;
Characterization methods of silica-based nanocomposites;
Porous silica-based nanocomposites;
Application of silica-based nanocomposites.

Prof. Dr. Łukasz Laskowski
Guest Editor

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Keywords

porous silica
functional materials
nanocomposites
host–guest systems
functional units
functionalization methods
silica matrices

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 948 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

A Low-Dimensional Layout of Magnetic Units as Nano-Systems of Combinatorial Logic: Numerical Simulations

by Dominika Kuźma, Paweł Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Cpałka and Łukasz Laskowski

Materials 2021, 14(11), 2974; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14112974 - 31 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1655

Abstract

Nanotechnology has opened numerous ways for physically realizing very sophisticated nanodevices that can be fabricated exclusively using molecular engineering methods. However, the synthesis procedures that lead to the production of nanodevices are usually complicated and time consuming. For this reason, the destination materials should be well designed. Therefore, numerical simulations can be invaluable. In this work, we present numerical simulations of the magnetic behaviour of magnetic units shaped into nanometric strips as a low dimensional layout that can be used as nano-systems of combinatorial logic. We showed that magnetic layouts that contain fewer than 16 magnetic units can take on a specific configuration as a response to the input magnetic field. Such configuration can be treated as an output binary word. The layouts that contained various numbers of magnetic units showed different switching characteristics (utterly different order of inverting of strips’ magnetic moments), thus creating numerous combinations of the output binary words in response to the analog magnetic signal. The number of possible output binary words can be increased even more by adding parameters––the system’s initial magnetic configuration. The physical realization of the model presented here can be used as a very simple and yet effective encryption device that is based on nanometric arrays of magnetic units rather than an integrated circuit. The same information, provided by the proposed system, can be utilized for the construction of a nano-sensor for measuring of magnetic field with the possibility of checking also the history of magnetization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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16 pages, 2650 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Innovative Bioactive Ag-SiO₂/TiO₂ Coating on a NiTi Shape Memory Alloy: Structure and Mechanism of Its Formation

by Mateusz Dulski, Jacek Balcerzak, Wojciech Simka and Karolina Dudek

Materials 2021, 14(1), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14010099 - 29 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2714

Abstract

In recent years, more and more emphasis has been placed on the development and functionalization of metallic substrates for medical applications to improve their properties and increase their applicability. Today, there are many different types of approaches and materials that are used for this purpose. Our idea was based on a combination of a chemically synthesized Ag-SiO₂ nanocomposite and the electrophoretic deposition approach on a NiTi shape memory substrate. As a result, silver-silica coating was developed on a previously passivated alloy, which was then subjected to sintering at 700 °C for 2 h. The micrometer-sized coat-forming material was composed of large agglomerates consisting of silica and a thin film of submicron- and nano- spherical-shaped particles built of silver, carbon, and oxygen. Structurally, the coatings consisted of a combination of nanometer-sized silver-carbonate that was embedded in thin amorphous silica and siloxy network. The temperature impact had forced morphological and structural changes such as the consolidation of the coat-forming material, and the partial coalescence of the silver and silica particles. As a result, a new continuous complex ceramic coating was formed and was analyzed in more detail using the XPS, XRD, and Raman methods. According to the structural and chemical analyses, the deposited Ag-SiO₂ nanocomposite material’s reorganization was due to its reaction with a passivated TiO₂ layer, which formed an atypical glass-like composite that consisted of SiO₂-TiO₂ with silver particles that stabilized the network. Finally, the functionalization of the NiTi surface did not block the shape memory effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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20 pages, 1154 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Validation of a Homogeneous Incremental Centrifugal Liquid Sedimentation Method for Size Analysis of Silica (Nano)particles

by Jesús Manuel Antúnez Domínguez, Yannic Ramaye, Marta Dabrio and Vikram Kestens

Materials 2020, 13(17), 3806; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13173806 - 28 Aug 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2695

Abstract

Silica nanoparticles display many unique physicochemical properties that make them desirable for use in a wide variety of consumer products and composite materials. Accurately measuring the size of these nanoparticles is important for achieving the desired nanoscale functionality of the final product and for regulatory compliances. This study covers the validation of a centrifugal liquid sedimentation method for accurate measurement of the Stokes diameter of silica particles with a near-spherical shape and dimensions in the nanometer and sub-nanometer scale range. The validated method provided unbiased results in the range of 50 nm to 200 nm, with a lower limit of detection of ≤20 nm. The relative standard uncertainties for precision, quantified in terms of repeatability and day-to-day variation, ranged from 0.2% to 1.0% and from <0.1% to 0.5%, respectively. The standard uncertainty for trueness was assessed at 4.6%. Within its working range, the method was found robust with respect to the type of cuvette, light factor, operator, and for defining the meniscus of the sample suspension. Finally, a relative expanded measurement uncertainty of 10% confirmed the satisfactory performance of the method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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14 pages, 5324 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Preparation and Performance of Silica-di-Block Polymer Hybrids for BSA-Resistance Coatings

by Hongpu Huang, Yefeng Feng and Jia Qu

Materials 2020, 13(16), 3478; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13163478 - 7 Aug 2020

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2621

Abstract

A series of tem-responsive and protein-resistance property silica-di-block polymers SiO₂-g-PMMA-b-P(PEGMA) hybrids are synthesized with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) by the surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The morphology in tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution, lower critical solution temperature (LCST), surface morphology, bovine serum albumin (BSA)-resistance property, and thermal stability of nanoparticles were analyzed. The results of ¹H-NMR, GPC, and TEM prove that the silica-di-block hybrids have been obtained. The silica-di-block hybrids shows the LCST (52–64 °C) in aqueous solution. The hybrid films casted by THF present distributed uniform granular bulges and the film surface is relatively smooth (Ra = 15.4 nm ~ 10.5 nm). The results of QCM-D showed that only a small amount of BSA protein(△f = 18.6 ~ 11.8 Hz) was adsorbed on the surface of the films. The result of XPS also demonstrated that only a small amount of BSA protein was absorbed onto the surface of the film (N% = 1.86). The TGA analyses indicate that the thermal decomposition temperature of hybrids is 288 °C. Thus, it is suggested that the hybrids are served as a suitable coating with BSA resistance property and thermal stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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14 pages, 5847 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Magnetic Behaviour of Mn₁₂-Stearate Single-Molecule Magnets Immobilized on the Surface of 300 nm Spherical Silica Nanoparticles

by Magdalena Laskowska, Oleksandr Pastukh, Piotr Konieczny, Mateusz Dulski, Marcin Zalsiński and Lukasz Laskowski

Materials 2020, 13(11), 2624; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13112624 - 9 Jun 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2345

Abstract

The magnetic behaviour of Mn

_{12}

-stearate single-molecule magnets (SMMs) ([

{Mn}_{12} O_{12}

{({CH}_{3} {({CH}_{2})}_{16} {CO}_{2})}_{16}] \cdot 2 {CH}_{3} COOH \cdot 4 H_{2} O

) on the surface of [...] Read more.

The magnetic behaviour of Mn

_{12}

-stearate single-molecule magnets (SMMs) ([

{Mn}_{12} O_{12}

{({CH}_{3} {({CH}_{2})}_{16} {CO}_{2})}_{16}] \cdot 2 {CH}_{3} COOH \cdot 4 H_{2} O

) on the surface of 300 nm spherical silica nanoparticles were investigated. The SMMs were bonded at the silica surface with the assumed number of anchoring points, which influenced on their degree of freedom and distribution. In order to check the properties of Mn

_{12}

-stearate molecules separated on the silica surface, and check their interactions, the samples containing four different concentration of spacers per single anchoring unit and variously bonded Mn

_{12}

-stearate particles were prepared. The materials have been examined using Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. The results of magnetic measurements showed a correlation between the way of single-molecule magnets immobilization onto the silica spheres and the magnetic properties of the obtained hybrid materials. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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10 pages, 3895 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Synthesis in Silica Nanoreactor: Copper Pyrophosphate Quantum Dots and Silver Oxide Nanocrystallites Inside Silica Mezochannels

by Łukasz Laskowski, Anna Majtyka-Piłat, Krzysztof Cpałka, Maciej Zubko and Magdalena Laskowska

Materials 2020, 13(9), 2009; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13092009 - 25 Apr 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2821

Abstract

The synthesis routes are presented for the preparation of nanocomposites composed of nanocrystals placed inside SBA-15 silica pores. The procedures assume treating the silica channels as nanoreactors, where nanocrystals are created as a result of thermal decomposition of internal functional units. Its sizes and chemical composition can be modified by the change of functional group types and density inside silica channels. The procedure is demonstrated by the example of copper pyrophosphate quantum dots and silver oxide nanoparticles inside silica mezochannels. The method can be easily adopted to other types of nanocrystals that can be synthesized inside silica nanoreactors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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23 pages, 34461 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Functionalization of the NiTi Shape Memory Alloy Surface by HAp/SiO₂/Ag Hybrid Coatings Formed on SiO₂-TiO₂ Glass Interlayer

by Karolina Dudek, Mateusz Dulski and Bożena Łosiewicz

Materials 2020, 13(7), 1648; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071648 - 2 Apr 2020

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3753

Abstract

The surface modification of NiTi shape memory alloys is a method for increasing their multi-functionalities. In our solution, hydroxyapatite powder was mixed with a chemically synthesized silicon dioxide/silver (nSiO₂/Ag) nanocomposite in a different weight ratio between components (1:1, 5:1, and 10:1) and then electrophoretically deposited on the surface of the NiTi alloy, under various time and voltage conditions. Subsequently, uniform layers were subjected to heat treatment at 700 °C for 2 h in an argon atmosphere to improve the strength of their adhesion to the NiTi substrate. A change in linear dimensions of the co-deposited materials during the sintering process was also analyzed. After the heat treatment, XRD, Raman, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) + Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) studies revealed the formation of completely new composite coatings, which consisted of rutile and TiO₂-SiO₂ glass with silver oxide and HAp particles that were embedded into such coatings. It was found that spalling characterized the 1:1 ratio coating, while the others were crack-free, well-adhered, and capable of deformation to 3.5%. Coatings with a higher concentration of nanocomposite were rougher. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests in Ringer’s solution revealed the capacitive behavior of the material with high corrosion resistance. The kinetics and susceptibility to pitting corrosion was the highest for the NiTi electrode that was coated with a 5:1 ratio HAp/nSiO₂/Ag hybrid coating. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Silica-Based Nanocomposite Materials)

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