National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

Electrochemical deposition allows the preparation of ZnO nanostructures with precisely controlled morphology and properties, by finely tuning the process parameters. ZnO nanowires were deposited onto gold substrates by electrodeposition from a low concentration zinc nitrate bath Photolithography was employed for patterning interdigitated electrode systems onto silicon/silicon dioxide substrates and ZnO electrodeposition lead to wires connected to each other by bridging neighboring interdigits allowing electronic transport characterization. Optical measurements, i.e. reflection and photoluminescence spectroscopy, were performed and the results were correlated to electronic transport data. We found that we deal with a system for which one can apply a model of space charge limited currents with different traps energy distribution as a consequence of electrodeposition rate. Current versus temperature measurements show different behavior for lower and higher range of temperatures. Such nanowires, fabricated and contacted in a straightforward way, allow a wide area of applications ranging from conductometric bio- or chemo-sensors to optoelectronic devices. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The goal of this paper was to investigate the antifungal activity of Enamel layers deposited on titanium substrate (Ti-Enamel) and Enamel layers deposited on titanium substrate previously coated with a vinyl polydimethylsiloxane layer (Ti-PDMS-Enamel). The physicochemical properties were also investigated. The Candida albicans biofilm development on the obtained layers was examined after 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after ethidium bromide staining. A significant inhibition of the fungal adherence and biofilm development was observed on Ti-Enamel layers. The antifungal results demonstrated that the use of new Ti-Enamel composite layers could represent a promising perspective for the prevention of fungal biofilms associated implant infections.

This paper presents some investigations of the effect of nanopatterning on the properties of aluminum layer deposited by sputtering. UV-Nanoimprint Lithography technique has been used for the realization of a 2D array of nanostructures (pillars) in aluminum film characterized by cylindrical shape and the following structural parameters: diameter between 400 nm and 490 nm, depth between 320 nm and 420 nm and periodicity of 1.1 mu m, which have been revealed by SEM and AFM measurements. The UV-Vis transmission, reflection and photoluminescence measurements have evidenced the effect of the nanopatterning on the optical properties of the A1 layer.

The aim of the current research work was to study the physicochemical and biological properties of synthesized zinc doped hydroxyapatite (ZnHAp) nanoparticles with Zn concentrations x(Zn) = 0 (HAp), x(Zn) = 0.07 (7ZnHAp), and x(Zn) = 0.1 (10ZnHAp) for potential use in biological applications. The morphology, size, compositions, and incorporation of zinc into hydroxyapatite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman scattering, and X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the cytotoxicity of ZnHAp nanoparticles was tested on both E. coli bacteria and human hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG2. The results showed that ZnHAp nanoparticles (HAp, 7ZnHAp, and 10ZnHAp) have slightly elongated morphologies with average diameters between 25 nm and 18 nm. On the other hand, a uniform and homogeneous distribution of the constituent elements (calcium, phosphorus, zinc, and oxygen) in the ZnHAp powder was noticed. Besides, FTIR and Raman analyses confirmed the proper hydroxyapatite structure of the synthesized ZnHAp nanoparticles with the signature of phosphate, carbonate, and hydroxyl groups. Moreover, it can be concluded that Zn doping at the tested concentrations is not inducing a specific prokaryote or eukaryote toxicity in HAp compounds.

The double-perovskite Sr2FeMoO6 has been obtained by solid state method at low temperature (1060 degrees C) and a very short time of synthesis (up to 4h). Both, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed the formation of Sr2FeMoO6 oxide with grain sizes around 160 mm, and a small amount of SrMoO4 as an impurity. Mossbauer spectroscopy revealed a mixed site population with Fe and Mo ions generating a structure type with population inversion. This structure has a critical influence on the magnetic properties, as confirmed by the magnetization and TC values, i.e 3.56 mu(B)/f.u and 415 K, respectively. The Sr2FeMoO6 behavior was interpreted in terms of ferrimagnetic couplings generated by the various distributions of local interactions between Fe and Mo neighbors while comparing the ideal structure should show antiferromagnetic coupling between the two sublattices.

This paper presents the synthesis of cerium doped hydroxyapatite using low concentrations of cerium (x(Ce) = 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) by an adapted sol-gel method. The structural and optical properties of the obtained powders have been studied by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Photoluminescence (PL) measurements. The cerium ions successfully substituted the calcium ions from the hydroxyapatite structure without inflicting any structural alterations. With the increase of dopant concentration in the sample a decrease of the mean particle size was observed. Also, the vibrational peak intensities decreased while the intensity of the photoluminescence excitation bands increased in intensity when the cerium concentration increased from x(Ce) = 0.01 to x(Ce) = 0.05. Taken together, the results suggest that even low concentration of cerium influence the properties of hydroxyapatite but do not-cause any structural alterations.

Eu-doped CaF(2)nanocrystalline powders have been prepared by using co-precipitation technique. Structural and morphological modifications induced by annealing are followed by using Eu3+-ion probe. Theluminescence properties are changing gradually together with the morphology of doped CaF2 nanoparticles accompanied by anEu(3+)-> Eu2+ conversion. Cathodoluminescence measurements show uniform distribution of the europium dopant ions in the annealed samples accompanied by a strong increase of the integral photoluminescence signal. During annealing the cubic structure of CaF2 nanoparticles is altered going to the spherical morphology due to the Eu3+ ions incorporation. In the annealed samples Eu3+ ions are incorporated as Eu3+-O dimer centres with the coordination symmetry (C-2 nu); in the sintered samples there are two non-equivalent Eu3+ sites. The thermoluminescence peaks have been assigned to the recombination of the Eu3+ related traps in these sites.

Up-conversion properties of the glass-ceramics microrods containing (Er3+, Yb3+)-doped LiYF4 nanocrystals have been studied. Under 980 nm laser light pumping, both Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped LiYF4 samplesshow green ((H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2)) -> I-4(15/2)) and red (F-4(9/2) -> I-4(15/2)) up-conversion luminescences explained by a two-photon processes. The luminescence decay time of the green luminescence is much shorter in the glass-ceramics microrods (0.9 mu s) compared to the bulk powder (15 mu s) indicating the enhancement of the non-radiative relaxation rate due to the cross-relaxation effects between Er3+-ions. The quantum efficiencies were estimated for the green luminescence being much smaller in the glass-ceramic rods (eta = 0.15%) compared the bulk powder (eta = 2%) or pellet (eta = 46%).

In this study, dextrin coated iron oxide nanoparticles were obtained using an adapted chemical co-precipitation method. The size and morphology of the dextrin coated iron oxide nanoparticles (DIO-NPs) were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis depicted information on the morphology of DIO-NPs. The elemental analysis was conducted by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDAX). The iron oxide particles coated with dextrin have a spherical shape at nanometric scale with a narrow size distribution. The cytotoxicity assay was performed by quantification of HeLa cells viability, while the antimicrobial activities of the DIO-NPs were determined against ATCC reference and clinical microbial strains, i.e. Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538) and yeast (Candida albicans 393). The obtained nanoparticles did not have cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells after a 24 h exposure to DIO-NPs and the morphology of the cells was not affected. A low toxic effect on HeLa cells was noticed after 48 h. The minimal inhibitory concentration of DIO-NPs was 1 mg/mL for both tested microbial strains.

Wettability properties of thin TiO2 amorphous layers obtained by sputtering or sol-gel onto polyester textile materials were investigated. Contact angle (CA) measurements by the sessile drop method were used to evaluate these properties. Comparison was performed with coated samples of related poly(lactic acid) material. The samples coated by sol gel have CAs a few degrees higher than those coated by sputtering. Wetting properties were conversely changed under alternate darkness/illumination conditions. Photoinduced hydrophilicity was observed even for these amorphous coating particles, being higher for sputtered samples than for sol gel ones.