Recent Research on Surface and Interface in Nanosystems

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Synthesis, Interfaces and Nanostructures".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2023) | Viewed by 5665

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
CNR-ISMN, Monterotondo Scalo, 00015 Rome, Italy
Interests: surface science for advanced materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Faculty UnB - Planatina, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 Brasilia, Brazil
Interests: magnetic nanocomposites and nanocolloids for technological applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As is well known, the role of the surface in nanomaterials is crucial for the development of new and advanced materials, with great impact not only in the scientific community, but also in social life. The aim of this Special Issue is to collect remarkable contributions on the study of the surface and interface in nanosystems. Research will cover many aspects of the surface, such as its design, modifications, characterizations, and reactivities. At the same time, all phenomena involving the solid-solid, solid-liquid, and solid-gas interfaces will be considered.

Nanoparticles, core-shell nanoparticles, nanorods, nanotubes, nanowires, nano shells, thin films, etc., prepared through the most common chemical and physical methods can be included in nanosystems. Considerable attention will be devoted to the physical-chemical properties of nanosystems investigated via spectroscopic (XPS, AES, EELS, Raman, etc.) and microscopy (SEM, STM, TEM, AFM, etc.) techniques, as well as electrochemical, magnetic, catalysis, and biocompatibility performances.

Dr. Alessio Mezzi
Dr. Alex Campos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • catalyst surfaces
  • adsorption
  • surface chemical reactions
  • surface characterizations
  • surfaces and interfaces
  • physico-chemical properties of nanosystems

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 8577 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Enhancement of Exchange Bias in Innovative Core/Shell/Shell Structures: Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Co-Oxide/Co and Co-Oxide/Co/Co-Oxide Inverted Nanostructures
by Maral Ghoshani, Morteza Mozaffari, Mehmet Acet, Mahshid Hosseini and Daryoosh Vashaee
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(5), 880; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13050880 - 26 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1499
Abstract
In this study, we investigate the enhancement of exchange bias in core/shell/shell structures by synthesizing single inverted core/shell (Co-oxide/Co) and core/shell/shell (Co-oxide/Co/Co-oxide) nanostructures through a two-step reduction and oxidation method. We evaluate the magnetic properties of the structures and study the effect of [...] Read more.
In this study, we investigate the enhancement of exchange bias in core/shell/shell structures by synthesizing single inverted core/shell (Co-oxide/Co) and core/shell/shell (Co-oxide/Co/Co-oxide) nanostructures through a two-step reduction and oxidation method. We evaluate the magnetic properties of the structures and study the effect of shell thickness on the exchange bias by synthesizing various shell thicknesses of Co-oxide/Co/Co-oxide nanostructures. The extra exchange coupling formed at the shell–shell interface in the core/shell/shell structure leads to a remarkable increase in the coercivity and the strength of the exchange bias by three and four orders, respectively. The strongest exchange bias is achieved for the sample comprising the thinnest outer Co-oxide shell. Despite the general declining trend of the exchange bias with Co-oxide shell thickness, we also observe a nonmonotonic behavior in which the exchange bias oscillates slightly as the shell thickness increases. This phenomenon is ascribed to the dependence of the antiferromagnetic outer shell thickness variation at the expense of the simultaneous opposite variation in the ferromagnetic inner shell. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Surface and Interface in Nanosystems)
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17 pages, 4061 KiB  
Article
L-Lysine-Coated Magnetic Core–Shell Nanoparticles for the Removal of Acetylsalicylic Acid from Aqueous Solutions
by Ayessa P. Maciel, Guilherme Gomide, Franciscarlos G. da Silva, Ana Alice A. M. Guerra, Jerome Depeyrot, Alessio Mezzi and Alex F. C. Campos
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(3), 514; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030514 - 27 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1431
Abstract
Nanotechnologies based on magnetic materials have been successfully used as efficient and reusable strategies to remove pharmaceutical residuals from water. This paper focuses on the fabrication, characterization, and application of ferrite-based magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with L-lysine as potential nanoadsorbents to remove acetylsalicylic acid [...] Read more.
Nanotechnologies based on magnetic materials have been successfully used as efficient and reusable strategies to remove pharmaceutical residuals from water. This paper focuses on the fabrication, characterization, and application of ferrite-based magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with L-lysine as potential nanoadsorbents to remove acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) from water. The proposed nanomaterials are composed of highly magnetic and chemically stable core–shell nanoparticles covered with an adsorptive layer of L-lysine (CoFe2O4–γ-Fe2O3–Lys). The nanoadsorbents were elaborated using the coprecipitation method in an alkaline medium, leading to nanoparticles with two different mean sizes (13.5 nm and 8.5 nm). The samples were characterized by XRD, TEM, FTIR, XPS, Zetametry, BET, and SQUID magnetometry. The influence of time, pH, and pollutant concentration was evaluated from batch studies using 1.33 g/L of the nanoadsorbents. The Freundlich isotherm best adjusted the adsorption data. The adsorption process exhibited a pseudo-second-order kinetic behavior. The optimal pH for adsorption was around 4–6, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 16.4 mg/g after 150 min of contact time. Regeneration tests also showed that the proposed nanomaterials are reusable. The set of results proved that the nanoadsorbents can be potentially used to remove ASA from water and provide relevant information for their application in large-scale designs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Surface and Interface in Nanosystems)
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16 pages, 4715 KiB  
Article
3D AFM Nanomechanical Characterization of Biological Materials
by Stylianos Vasileios Kontomaris, Andreas Stylianou, Anastasios Georgakopoulos and Anna Malamou
Nanomaterials 2023, 13(3), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13030395 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1623
Abstract
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool enabling the mechanical characterization of biological materials at the nanoscale. Since biological materials are highly heterogeneous, their mechanical characterization is still considered to be a challenging procedure. In this paper, a new approach that leads [...] Read more.
Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is a powerful tool enabling the mechanical characterization of biological materials at the nanoscale. Since biological materials are highly heterogeneous, their mechanical characterization is still considered to be a challenging procedure. In this paper, a new approach that leads to a 3-dimensional (3D) nanomechanical characterization is presented based on the average Young’s modulus and the AFM indentation method. The proposed method can contribute to the clarification of the variability of the mechanical properties of biological samples in the 3-dimensional space (variability at the x–y plane and depth-dependent behavior). The method was applied to agarose gels, fibroblasts, and breast cancer cells. Moreover, new mathematical methods towards a quantitative mechanical characterization are also proposed. The presented approach is a step forward to a more accurate and complete characterization of biological materials and could contribute to an accurate user-independent diagnosis of various diseases such as cancer in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Surface and Interface in Nanosystems)
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12 pages, 3615 KiB  
Article
X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) Analysis of Ultrafine Au Nanoparticles Supported over Reactively Sputtered TiO2 Films
by Zineb Matouk, Mohammad Islam, Monserrat Gutiérrez, Jean-Jacques Pireaux and Amine Achour
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(20), 3692; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12203692 - 21 Oct 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3282
Abstract
The impact of a titania (TiO2) support film surface on the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles (Au NP) was investigated. Using the reactive dc-magnetron sputtering technique, TiO2 films with an amorphous, anatase, and nitrogen-doped anatase crystal structure were produced for [...] Read more.
The impact of a titania (TiO2) support film surface on the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles (Au NP) was investigated. Using the reactive dc-magnetron sputtering technique, TiO2 films with an amorphous, anatase, and nitrogen-doped anatase crystal structure were produced for a subsequent role as a support material for Au NP. Raman spectra of these TiO2 films revealed that both vacuum and NH3 annealing treatments promoted amorphous to anatase phase transformation through the presence of a peak in the 513–519 cm−1 spectral regime. Furthermore, annealing under NH3 flux had an associated blue shift and broadening of the Raman active mode at 1430 cm−1, characteristic of an increase in the oxygen vacancies (VO). For a 3 to 15 s sputter deposition time, the Au NP over TiO2 support films were in the 6.7–17.1 nm size range. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) analysis, the absence of any shift in the Au 4f core level peak implied that there was no change in the electronic properties of Au NP. On the other hand, spontaneous hydroxyl (–OH) group adsorption to anatase TiO2 support was instantly detected, the magnitude of which was found to be enhanced upon increasing the Au NP loading. Nitrogen-doped anatase TiO2 supporting Au NP with ~21.8 nm exhibited a greater extent of molecular oxygen adsorption. The adsorption of both –OH and O2 species is believed to take place at the perimeter sites of the Au NP interfacing with the TiO2 film. XPS analyses and discussions about the tentative roles of O2 and –OH adsorbent species toward Au/TiO2 systems corroborate very well with interpretations of density functional theory simulations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Research on Surface and Interface in Nanosystems)
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