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Publication at Nanoscale: Magnetic gold nanotriangles by microwave-assisted polyol synthesis

Siming Yu,a   Jordan A. Hachtel,bc   Matthew F. Chisholm,c  Sokrates T. Pantelides,bc   Anna Laromaine*a and   Anna Roig*a  

Nanoscale, 2015,7, 14039-14046, DOI: 10.1039/C5NR03113C
Received 12 May 2015, Accepted 16 Jul 2015, First published online 21 Jul 2015
Imagen1
Simple approaches to synthesize hybrid nanoparticles with magnetic and plasmonic functionalities, with high control of their shape and avoiding cytotoxic reactants, to target biomedical applications remain a huge challenge. Here, we report a facile, fast and bio-friendly microwave-assisted polyol route for the synthesis of a  complex multi-material consisting of monodisperse gold nanotriangles around 280 nm in size uniformly decorated by superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles of 5 nm. These nanotriangles are readily dispersible in water, display a strong magnetic response (10 wt% magnetic fraction) and exhibit a localized surface plasmon resonance band in the NIR region (800 nm). Moreover, these hybrid particles can be easily self-assembled  at the liquid–airinterfaces.

 

Paper accepted in Chem. Eng. J.

We want to congratulate to Laura and Siming for the acceptance of the paper “Scale-up synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles by microwave-assisted thermal decomposition” in Chemical Engineering Journal by Laura González-Moragas, SiMing Yu (equal contributors), Nerea Murillo, Anna Laromaine, Anna Roig.

 

N&N Group and Grup de Transductors Químics (CNM) Collaboration: new paper on heavy metals detection

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Electroanalytical Assessment of Heavy Metals in Waters with Bismuth Nanoparticle-Porous Carbon Paste Electrodes

The final version of the paper in Electrochimica Acta is on-line . It will be published in the journal in May. You can download it from the link.  http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1QjGc_JcNCuYR The journal provides free access to the article for almost two months and the article can also be shared during this time.
 Highlights

•A bismuth carbon nanocomposite material prepared by a one-pot sol-gel process.
•Application to the fabrication of a sensor for heavy metal detection in waters.
•Cd, Pb and Ni were measured at concentration levels below the MAC-EQS set by the EU.
•Thorough assessment of the sensor performance in water samples of different origin.

Martí Gich has participated in a study published today in Science

altIn this study, authors demonstrate the formation of oriented piezoelectrically active α-quartz thin films directly on silicon. Films are prepared by dip-coating from alcohol/ water solutions of soluble silicic acid precursors plus surfactant or block copolymer structure-directing agents. Solvent evaporation drives the self-assembly of amorphous silica films composed of ordered arrays of pores. An appropriate thermal treatment results on epitaxial quartz films.

We congratulate the authors and specially our group member Martí Gich. You can read the full article

Soft-Chemistry–Based Routes to Epitaxial α-Quartz Thin Films with Tunable Textures
A. Carretero-Genevrier, M. Gich, L. Picas, J. Gazquez, G. L. Drisko, C. Boissiere, D. Grosso, J. Rodriguez-Carvajal, C. Sanchez
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 340 17 MAY 2013, 827

You can also read a highlight written by Jeff Brinker in the same issue: Quartz on Silicon. The integration of quartz with silicon may provide a route to fabricate advanced piezoelectric devices. Jeffrey Brinker  and Paul G. Clem.

science

Hot off the press: new Nanoscale paper published

nanoscale_2013_oanapascuA Nanoscale paper on “Ultrafast continuous synthesis of crystalline ferrite nanoparticles in supercritical ethanol” (Oana Pascu, Samuel Marre, Cyril Aymonier and  Anna Roig) has recently been published. It is the result from the collaboration with the group of Cyril Aymonier from the ICMB-CNRS in Bordeaux, where Oana Pascu spent an internship during her Ph.D. and now she holds a post-doctoral contract.

Nanoscale 5 (2013) 2126-2132, DOI: 10.1039/c3nr33501a

Magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) are of increasing interest in various industrially relevant products. For these, the development of greener and faster approaches facilitating scaling-up production is of paramount importance. Here, we report a novel, green and potentially scalable approach for the continuous and ultrafast (90 s) synthesis of superparamagnetic ferrite NPs (MnFe2O4, Fe3O4) in supercritical ethanol (scEtOH) at a fairly moderate temperature (260 °C). ScEtOH exhibits numerous advantages such as its production from bio-resources, its lack of toxicity and its relatively low supercritical coordinates (pc = 6.39 MPa and Tc = 243 °C), being therefore appropriate for the development of sustainable technologies. The present study is completed by the investigation of both in situ and ex situ NP surface functionalization. The as-obtainednanoparticles present good crystallinity, sizes below 8 nm, superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature and high saturation magnetization. Moreover, depending on the capping strategy, the ferrite NPs present extended (for in situ coated NPs) or short-term (for ex situ coated NPs) colloidal stability.

 

New publication!

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Hot from the press-
New publication entitled 2D Magnetic Frames Obtained by the Microwave-Assisted Chemistry Approach by Oana Pascu, Martí Gich, Gervasi Herranz, and Anna Roig in Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. DOI: 10.1002/ejic.201101244.

First 2013 publication by Nerea Murillo-Cremaes et al.

GA_Nerea_2013The research on drug impregnation of different carriers using supercritical fluids and its in vitro release conducted by Nerea Murillo-Cremaes et al. has been published online in the first 2013 number of The Journal of Supercriticla Fluids as: “Nanostructured silica-based drug delivery vehicles for hydrophobic and moisture sensitive drugs” (Nerea Murillo-Cremaes, Ana M. López-Periago, Javier Saurina, Anna RoigConcepción Domingo, The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Volume 73, January 2013, Pages 34–42, doi:10.1016/j.supflu.2012.11.006).

Hot off the press!! New article!

Surface Reactivity of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles by Microwave-Assisted Synthesis; Comparison with the Thermal Decomposition Route

Oana Pascu, Elisa Carenza, Martí Gich, Sònia Estradé, Francesca Peiró, Gervasi Herranz, and Anna Roig
J. Phys. Chem. C, Article ASAP, DOI: 10.1021/jp303204d