Paper in collaboration with ICN2 in RSC Advances

Written by Anna Roig on October 23, 2015. Posted in New publications, News.

Dual T1/T2 MRI contrast agent based on hybrid SPION@coordination polymer nanoparticles

The study by M. Borges, S. Yu, A. Laromaine, A. Roig, S. Súarez-García, J. Lorenzo,D. Ruiz-Molina and F. Novio* has just been published in RSC Advances 2015, 5, 86779–86783.

The paper reports a novel hybrid T1/T2 dual MRI contrast agent by the encapsulation of SPIONs (T2 contrast agent) into an iron-based coordination polymer with T1-weighted signal. This new hybrid material presents improved relaxometry and low cytotoxicity, which make it suitable for its use as contrast agent for MRI.

Paper Accepted in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering

Written by Anna Roig on September 29, 2015. Posted in New publications.

Protective effects of Bovine Serum Albumin on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles evaluated in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Laura Gonzalez-Moragas, Si-Ming Yu, Elisa Carenza, Anna Laromaine*, Anna Roig

Nanomaterials have unique biological reactivity that need to be thoroughly investigated. In this context, the use of simple in vivo models to biologically evaluate nanoparticles is currently in increasing demand as they offer low-cost and information-rich experiments. In this work, we evaluated how surface modification (citrate and protein-coated) of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles induces changes in their toxicological profile and biodistribution using the animal model Caenorhabditis elegans and combining techniques from materials science and biochemistry.

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

Written by JAGS on March 19, 2015. Posted in New publications, News.

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.

ACCEPTED REVIEW! C. elegans as a tool for in vivo nanoparticle assessment

Written by JAGS on February 16, 2015. Posted in General News.

C. elegans as a tool for in vivo nanoparticle assessment

Laura Gonzalez-Moragas, Anna Roig, Anna Laromaine*

Advances in Colloid and Interface Science,

Available online 14 February 2015,doi:10.1016/j.cis.2015.02.001

Abstract, Characterization of the in vivo behavior of nanomaterials aims to optimize their design, to determine their biological effects, and to validate their application. The characteristics of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) advocate this 1 mm long nematode as an ideal living system for the primary screening of engineered nanoparticles in a standard synthetic laboratory. This review describes some practicalities and advantages of working with C. elegans that will be of interest for chemists and materials scientists who would like to enter the “worm” community, anticipates some drawbacks, and offers relevant examples of nanoparticle assessment by using C. elegans.

Hot off the press! New publication in Faraday Discussions.

Written by JAGS on January 19, 2015. Posted in General News.

Chiral habit selection on nanostructured epitaxial quartz films
Adrián Carretero-Genevrier,* Martí Gich,* Laura Picas, Clément Sanchez, Juan Rodriguez-Carvajal,*

Faraday Discussions, DOI: 10.1039/C4FD00266K

Understanding the crystallization of enantiomorphically pure systems can be relevant to diverse fields such as the study of the origins of life or the purification of racemates. Here, we report on polycrystalline epitaxial thin films of quartz on Si substrates displaying two distinct types of chiral habits that never coexist in the same film. We combine Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) analysis and computer-assisted crystallographic calculations to make a detailed study of these habits of quartz. By estimating the surface energies of the observed crystallites we argue that the films are enantiomorphically pure and we briefly outline a possible mechanism to explain the habit and chiral selection in this system.

Hot off the press! New publication in Chem. Commun.

Written by JAGS on December 11, 2014. Posted in General News.

Crystallization of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles

Glenna L. Drisko, Adrian Carretero-Genevrier, Alexandre Perrot, Martí
Gich, Jaume Gàzquez, Juan Rodriguez-Carvajal, Luc Favre, David Grosso,
Cédric Boissière, Clément Sanchez

ChemComm, DOI: 10.1039/x0xx00000x

Complex 3D nacrostructured nanoparticles are transformed from amorphous silica into pure polycrystalline α-quartz using catalytic quantities of alkaline earths as devitrificants. Walls as thin as 10 nm could be crystallized without losing the architecture of the particles. The roles of cation size and the mol% of incorporated devitrificant on crystallization behavior are studied, with Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+ and Ba2+ allproducing pure α-quartz under certain conditions.

Hot off the press: new article in Phys. Rev. Applied

Written by JAGS on November 6, 2014. Posted in General News.

Hot off the press: new paper accepted!

Written by JAGS on August 16, 2014. Posted in General News.

Bacterial Cellulose Films: Influence of bacterial strain and drying route on film properties from Muling Zeng, Anna Laromaine* and Anna Roig* accepted in Cellulose, DOI: 10.1007/s10570-014-0408-y

This paper reports the production of bacterial cellulose thin films from two bacterial strains, Gluconacetobacter xylinus (GX) and Gluconacetobacter europaeus (GE), and three methods of drying the films; at room temperature (RD), freeze drying (FD) and supercritical drying (SCD). The porosity, transparency, water absorption capacity and mechanical properties of the obtained films are further investigated. We conclude that materials with different properties can be fabricated by selecting the bacterial strain or the drying method.

Hot off the press: new article in Journal of Polymer Science

Written by JAGS on July 17, 2014. Posted in General News.

A novel solventless coating method to graft low molecular weight polyethyleneimine on silica

fine powders

Nerea Murillo-Cremaes, Pedro López-Aranguren, Lourdes F. Vega, Javier Saurina,

Anna Roig*, Concepción Domingo*

Journal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry (2014), on-line July DOI:10.1002/pola.27297

A ring-opening polymerization process catalyzed by compressed CO₂ at low pressure and temperature and in the absence of any organic solvent is presented. Fabrication of hybrid materials involving two types of silica nanoparticles (one of them with a magnetic core) coated with hyperbranched polyethyleneimine of low molecular weight was succesfully achieved. Properties of the obtained materials are identified as excellent for some biomedical applications

COLLABORATION PROJECT WITH CNM-CSIC. FIRST PAPER ACCEPTED!

Written by JAGS on July 25, 2013. Posted in General News.

First published results on the electrochemichal sensor for heavy metals project as a part of the PhD thesis of Pengfei that is co-supervised by Martí Gich of our group and Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez of the CNM-CSIC

Facile Synthesis of Porous Bismuth-Carbon Nanocomposites for the Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metals
Marti Gich, Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez, Liviu Cosmin Cotet, Pengfei Niu and Anna Roig

Tag: accepted paper

Paper in collaboration with ICN2 in RSC Advances

Paper Accepted in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering

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

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

ACCEPTED REVIEW! C. elegans as a tool for in vivo nanoparticle assessment

C. elegans as a tool for in vivo nanoparticle assessment

Hot off the press! New publication in Faraday Discussions.

Hot off the press! New publication in Chem. Commun.

Hot off the press: new article in Phys. Rev. Applied

Hot off the press: new paper accepted!

Hot off the press: new article in Journal of Polymer Science

COLLABORATION PROJECT WITH CNM-CSIC. FIRST PAPER ACCEPTED!

First published results on the electrochemichal sensor for heavy metals project as a part of the PhD thesis of Pengfei that is co-supervised by Martí Gich of our group and Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez of the CNM-CSIC

Facile Synthesis of Porous Bismuth-Carbon Nanocomposites for the Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metals
Marti Gich, Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez, Liviu Cosmin Cotet, Pengfei Niu and Anna Roig

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, Accepted Manuscript DOI: 10.1039/C3TA12190A, Paper

http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2013/TA/C3TA12190A

Tag: accepted paper

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

C. elegans as a tool for in vivo nanoparticle assessment

First published results on the electrochemichal sensor for heavy metals project as a part of the PhD thesis of Pengfei that is co-supervised by Martí Gich of our group and Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez of the CNM-CSIC

Facile Synthesis of Porous Bismuth-Carbon Nanocomposites for the Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metals Marti Gich, Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez, Liviu Cosmin Cotet, Pengfei Niu and Anna Roig

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2013, Accepted Manuscript DOI: 10.1039/C3TA12190A, Paper

Facile Synthesis of Porous Bismuth-Carbon Nanocomposites for the Sensitive Detection of Heavy Metals
Marti Gich, Cesar Fernandez-Sanchez, Liviu Cosmin Cotet, Pengfei Niu and Anna Roig