Journal of Nanoanalysis
Volume:3 Issue: 3, Dec 2016

The present work was an attempt to evaluate the potentialities of using SWCNTs as nanovectors for drug delivery of anticancer drug Oxaliplatin. First-principles van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) calculations are used to investigate the incorporation of oxaliplatin inside the typical semiconducting and metallic single wall carbon nanotubes with various diameters (SWCNTs). Adsorption energy is calculated and the results show that oxaliplatin affinity for the semiconducting SWCNTs is stronger than that for the metallic counterparts. The obtained binding energies reveal that oxaliplatin prefers to be encapsulated into the semiconducting and metallic nanotubes with diameter of about 9 and 11 Å, respectively. We also found that vdW forces mainly contribute to the binding of selected drug molecule to SWCNTs. The study of the electronic structures and charge analysis indicate that no significant hybridization between the respective orbital takes place and the small interaction obtained quantitatively in terms of binding energies. Our findings afford not only a molecular insight into understanding of the interaction between oxaliplatin and SWCNTs but also may be instructive to relevant scientists who are attempt to develop effective methods for suitable nanovectors for drug delivery.

Bacteria can grow in different materials that are in close contact with humans, foods, etc., so, it is very important to control this matter in order to prevent risk of infections. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) have interesting antibacterial activities and offering a promising new treatment preventing bacteria from becoming resistant. With this aim, we report for the first time three novel modified carboxylated multiwall carbon nanotubes consisting of MWNT–CO-Metformin, MWNT–CO- [Metformin][CuCl2] and MWNT–CO-[Metformin][AgNO3]. The functionalized carboxylated multiwall nanotubes were then characterized by FT-IR, Raman, TEM, EDX and Elemental analysis. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of all of compounds has been investigated against gram-negative Escherichia coli and gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. These results show that nano compounds exhibited significant antibacterial activity and have a potential to be used as antibacterial agent.

In this paper, we have studied the hydrogen adsorption onto CNCs and BNNCs nano-cones using GCMC simulations. The effects of length and cone apex angle on adsorption property have been investigated. Our results show that with increasing the pressure and decreasing the cone length and cone apex angle except for CNC-300˚, the hydrogen adsorption onto the BNNCs and CNCs was increased. It was also found that BNNCs can uptake more hydrogen in comparison with CNCs at the same thermodynamically conditions. Further, more hydrogen adsorption can be achieved in both CNCs and BNNCs with 240˚apex angle. This finding attributed to high surface area as well as strong interactions between hydrogen molecules and respected nano-cones. Also, results of hydrogen adsorption with unit of mol/m3 are corresponded of the energy of hydrogen adsorption.

In this paper, the shape memory, mechanical and Izod impact properties of a new shape memory nanocomposite based on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and alumina nanoparticles were investigated. The morphological results showed that the presence of 1% alumina nanoparticles made a reduction in diameter of ABS domains and caused a uniform distribution of the ABS phase into the TPU matrix. Surprisingly, the addition of 2 and 3% alumina made the ABS domain larger. We found that this increment in size of droplets can be attributed to the nanoparticle migration into ABS phase in more concentration and agglomeration of nanoparticles which can worsen the compatibility of the blend. In all samples, the tensile strength and impact resistance first increased and then decreased significantly when the content of alumina was more than 1 wt%. Furthermore, the shape memory investigation showed that the shape recovery and fixity of neat TPU/ABS blend improve significantly by presence of alumina nanoparticles. The shape recovery ratio increased from 93.88% for the neat TPU/ABS to 98.99% by loading only 1 wt% nano alumina and, the shape fixity changes from 92.98% to 99.8% by loading 3% alumina nanoparticles.

In the present study, adsorption of Co(tsPc)-4 using γ-Alumina was investigated. γ-Alumina was prepared by gel combustion method. The XRD pattern revealed that the synthesized γ-Alumina is amorphous and SEM image showed its nanosize scale while BET surface area about 501 m2/g and pore size of 7 nm implies highly porous surface which is a characteristic property of a high-quality adsorbent. In the second step of this study, the effects of adsorbent dosage, initial Co(tspc)-4 concentration and contact time were investigated. Upon the obtained UV-Vis spectra, λmax of 664 nm was used to determine the concentration of Co(tsPc)-4 after adsorption. From the Langmuir isotherm the maximum adsorption capacity of γ-Alumina toward Co(tsPc)-4 was determined (Qm=333.33 mg/g). Although Co(tsPc)-4 adsorption occurred in the first 40 min of contact time, at least 90 min time was needed to attain equilibrium. The kinetics of adsorption can be described by second order rate equation. After that, statistically based experimental design, i.e. as Box–Behnken design (BBD), was used to study the effect of independent variables on the adsorption. Regeneration studies of the adsorbent were carried out and it was found that the adsorbent can be effectively regenerated up to 3 times with no significant deactivation. The obtained results suggest γ-Alumina is high quality adsorbent for the removal of Co(tsPc)-4 from aqueous waste streams in different industries such as painting and oil & gas in MEROX unit.

Cisplatin continues to be a first line chemotherapy agent alone or in combination with other cytotoxic agents orradiotherapy. Dose-limiting side effects, intrinsic and acquired resistance are the main reasons for inventing and developing new ways of delivering cisplatin. Biocompatible hollow porous materials offer high void volume, shell porosity, low density and controllable size which make them promising platforms for efficient drug delivery systems. In this study, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) were successfully synthesized by a hard-templating method. Further, the synthesized HMSNs were studied by characterizing their morphology, nanostructure, specific surface area, particle size distribution and chemical composition using FESEM, HRTEM, N2-Sorption and FTIR techniques, respectively. The high specific surface area (1201 m2g-1) of the prepared HMSNs resulted in relatively high loading capacity of cisplatin (35 wt.%). Furthermore, release test performed at pH value of 7.4 showed a sustained release pattern. The cytotoxicity of the formulated drug was also examined in c26 colon carcinoma cell lines by MTT assay. The drug loaded HMSNs showed a lower toxicity than free drug due to the sustained drug release.