Nanotechnology

In the pursuit of sensitive and quantitative methods to detect and diagnose cancer, nanotechnology has been identified as a field of great promise. Semiconductor quantum dots are nanoparticles with intense, stable fluorescence, and could enable the detection of tens to hundreds of cancer biomarkers in blood assays, on cancer tissue biopsies, or as contrast agents for medical imaging. With the emergence of gene and protein profiling and microarray technology, high-throughput screening of biomarkers has generated databases of genomic and expression data for certain cancer types, and has identified new cancer-specific markers. Quantum dots have the potential to expand this in vitro analysis, and extend it to cellular, tissue and whole-body multiplexed cancer biomarker imaging.

Precision Medicine is still an evolving research and policy space some 18 months after the initial White House policy announcement.
• There is little evidence of a mainstream public discourse about the PMI yet.
• These audiences get their information directly from the media statements, rather than journalists
• Concerns about the use of genetic screening to target and segment populations for treatment have been discussed by academics such as Charmaine Royal, Jonathan Kahn and Dorothy Roberts. The PMI brings such concerns to the attention of policy-makers.
• There is little evidence of Australian involvement in online discussions about the PMI.

A state-of-the-art overview of N-dopant characterizations in nano-TiO 2 second-generation photocatalysts is provided. The related literature is very rich and sometimes offers contrasting interpretations. Here we critically discuss up-to-date literature results and our own findings, as retrieved by several experimental (BET, HR-TEM, XPS, DRS, HR-XRPD, EXAFS, electrochemical tools) and theoretical (periodic DFT) techniques. Our intent is to pull together outcomes from very different and complementary sources to make an as much as possible coherent picture of the morphological, electrochemical and electronic properties of N-TiO 2 materials. It is commonly accepted that critical issues to be considered in the design of high-performing N-TiO 2 photocatalysts are synthetic strategy, defect concentration and chemical nature of the lattice point defects. We focus on the latter two issues, with emphasis on sol-gel prepared materials, according to the specific area of expertise of our group. The problem of the chemical nature of guest N species into the lattice is crucial, as substitutional (N s ) or interstitial (N i ) nitrogen place their valence states just above the valence band or deeper into the band gap. Overall, we show how synergism among experimental and theoretical techniques is decisive to disentangle structural, electronic and morphological effects in complex N-doped TiO 2 matrices.

We show that the shape of electroluminescence transients in organic semiconductors can be conveniently used to obtain the diffusion constant D of injected charge carriers, enabling the study of generalized Einstein relationship under nonequilibrium conditions as a function of the electric field. The appearance of peak at the onset of transient is shown to be the signature of diffusive regime of transport. We demonstrate it for two representative materials, Alq 3 and polymer poly [2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene], with the focus on the role of hot carriers in transport and their diffusivity.

Investigating the multidimensional integration between different microbiological kingdoms possesses potential toward engineering next-generation bionic architectures. Bacterial and fungal kingdom exhibits mutual symbiosis that can offer advanced functionalities to these bionic architectures. Moreover, functional nanomaterials can serve as probing agents for accessing newer information from microbial organisms due to their dimensional similarities. In this article, a bionic mushroom was created by intertwining cyanobacterial cells with graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) onto the umbrella-shaped pileus of mushroom for photosynthetic bioelectricity generation. These seamlessly merged GNRs function as agents for mediating extracellular electron transport from cyanobacteria resulting in photocurrent generation. Additionally, three-dimensional (3D) printing technique was used to assemble cyanobacterial cells in anisotropic, densely packed geometry resulting in adequate cell-population density for efficient collective behavior. These 3D printed cyanobacterial colonies resulted in comparatively higher photocurrent (almost 8-fold increase) than isotropically casted cyanobacteria of similar seeding density. An insight of the proposed integration between cyanobacteria and mushroom derives remarkable advantage that arises from symbiotic relationship, termed here as engineered bionic symbiosis. Existence of this engineered bionic symbiosis was confirmed by UV− visible spectroscopy and standard plate counting method. Taken together, the present study augments scientific understanding of multidimensional integration between the living biological microworld and functional abiotic nanomaterials to establish newer dimensionalities toward advancement of bacterial nanobionics.

Low-temperature plasma physics and technology are diverse and interdisciplinary fields. The plasma parameters can span many orders of magnitude and applications are found in quite different areas of daily life and industrial production. As a consequence, the trends in research, science and technology are difficult to follow and it is not easy to identify the major challenges of the field and their many sub-fields. Even for experts the road to the future is sometimes lost in the mist. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics is addressing this need for clarity and thus providing guidance to the field by this special Review article, The 2012 Plasma Roadmap.

Nanotechnology has made great strides forward in the creation of new surfaces, new materials and new forms which also find application in the biomedical field. Traditional biomedical applications started benefiting from the use nanotechnology in an array of areas, such as biosensors, tissue engineering, controlled release systems, intelligent systems and nanocomposites used in implant design. In this manuscript a review of developments in these areas will be provided along with some applications from our laboratories.

Coupling of localized surface plasmon resonances results in singular effects at the void space between noble metal nanoparticles. However, implementation of practical applications based on plasmon coupling calls for the high yield production of metal nanoparticle clusters (dimers, trimers, tetramers,.) with small gaps. Therefore, controlled assembly using colloid chemistry methods is an emerging and promising field. We present a brief overview over the controlled assembly of plasmonic nanoparticle clusters by colloid chemistry methods, together with a description of their plasmonic properties and some applications, with an emphasis in sensing through surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy for bio-detection purposes. We point out the important role of separation methods to obtain colloidal clusters in high yield. A special encouragement to explore assembly of anisotropic building blocks is pursued.

We describe in detail a general strategy for implementing a conditional geometric phase between two spins. Combined with single-spin operations, this simple operation is a universal gate for quantum computation, in that any unitary transformation can be implemented with arbitrary precision using only single-spin operations and conditional phase shifts. Thus quantum geometrical phases can form the basis of any quantum computation. Moreover, as the induced conditional phase depends only on the geometry of the paths executed by the spins it is resilient to certain types of errors and offers the potential of a naturally fault-tolerant way of performing quantum computation.

One of the first envatted brains, the most cyborgian element of J. D. Bernal's 1929 futuristic manifesto, The world, the flesh and the the devil, proposed a technological solution to the dreary certainty of mortality. In Bernal's scenario the brain is maintained in an 'out of body' but 'like-body' environment-in a bath of cerebral-spinal fluid held at constant body temperature. In reality, acquiring prospective immortality requires access to very different technologies-those that allow human organs and tissues to be preserved in a quite 'inhuman' life-world-the cryogenic storage chamber. Like Bernal, today's cryonicists consider that immortality can be secured through preservation of the brain alone. In this article I trace attempts to preserve or suspend life, and especially brain function, through the application of new 'technologies of immortality'. Drawing together historical information on the development of refrigeration, cryopreservation, transplantation, and nanotechnologies, I explore the uneasy relationship between cryonics and the technology on which it depends for its success-cryogenics. In so doing, I argue that the ability to successfully realize the science fiction fantasy of human immortality will rest on a moral and scientific parasitism: the capacity to use the biotechnological artifacts or proxies-cryogenically preserved brains, archived brains, tissues, and immortalized cell lines-derived from the dead, in order to prolong life.

A  base-4  leading  zero  detector  (LZD)  design  is  proposed  in  this  paper.  The  design  is  similar  to  the
approach  originally  proposed  by  V.G.  Oklobdzija  with  a  different  technique.  The  circuit  modules  used  in
the  base-4  LZD  approach  are  designed  and  several  N-bit  LZD  circuits  are  implemented  with  a  standard-
cell  realization  in  the  Taiwan  Semiconductor  Manufacturing  Company  (TSMC)  0.65um  CMOS  process.
The  performance  and  layout  area  of  the  base-4  LZD  realization  is  compared  for  implementations  that
contain only 4-to-1 and 2-to-1 multiplexers

Synthesis of nanomaterials by a simple, low cost and in high yield has been a great challenge since the very early development of nanoscience. Various bottom and top down approaches have been developed so far, for the commercial production of nanomaterials. Among all top down approaches, high energy ball milling, has been widely exploited for the synthesis of various nanomaterials, nanograins, nanoalloy, nanocomposites and nano -quasicrystalline materials. Mechanical alloying techniques have been utilized to produce amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys as well as metal/non-metal nanocomposite materials by milling and post annealing, of elemental or compound powders in an inert atmosphere. Mechanical alloying is a non-equilibrium processing technique in which different elemental powders are milled in an inert atmosphere to create one mixed powder with the same composition as the constituents. In high-energy ball milling, plastic deformation, cold-welding and fracture are predominant factors, in which the deformation leads to a change in particle shape, cold-welding leads to an increase in particle size and fracture leads to decrease in particle size resulting in the formation of fine dispersed alloying particles in the grain-refined soft matrix. By utilizing mechanical milling various kind of aluminium/ nickel/ magnesium/ copper based nanoalloys, wear resistant spray coatings, oxide and carbide strengthened aluminium alloys, and many other nanocomposites have been synthesized in very high yield. The mechanical milling has been utilized for the synthesis of nanomaterials either by milling and post annealing or by mechanical activation and then applying some other process on these activated materials. This review is a systematic view of the basic concept of mechanical milling, historical view and applications of mechanical milling in the synthesis of various nanomaterials, nanosomposites, nnaocarbons and nano quasicrystalline materials.

Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) of films and coatings involve the chemical reactions of gaseous reactants on or near the vicinity of a heated substrate surface. This atomistic deposition method can provide highly pure materials with structural control at atomic or nanometer scale level. Moreover, it can produce single layer, multilayer, composite, nanostructured, and functionally graded coating materials with well controlled dimension and unique structure at low processing temperatures. Furthermore, the unique feature of CVD over other deposition techniques such as the non-line-of-sight-deposition capability has allowed the coating of complex shape engineering components and the fabrication of nano-devices, carbon-carbon (C-C) composites, ceramic matrix composite (CMCs), free standing shape components. The versatility of CVD had led to rapid growth and it has become one of the main processing methods for the deposition of thin films and coatings for a wide range of applications, including semiconductors (e.) used for hard coatings, protection against corrosion, oxidation or as diffusion barriers; metallic films (e.g. W, Mo, Al, Au, Cu, Pt) for microelectronics and for protective coatings; fibre production (e.g. B and SiC monofilament fibres) and fibre coating. This contribution aims to provide a brief overview of CVD of films and coatings. The fundamental aspects of CVD including process principle, deposition mechanism, reaction chemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics and transport phenomena will be presented. In addition, the practical aspects of CVD such as the CVD system and apparatus used, CVD process parameters, process control techniques, range of films synthesized, characterisation and co-relationships of structures and properties will be presented. The advantages and limitations of CVD will be discussed, and its applications will be briefly reviewed. The article will also review the development of CVD technologies based on different heating methods, and the type of precursor used which has led to different variants

Wakaf adalah amalan mulia yang sangat di galakkan oleh Islam. Sebagai salah satu mekanisme kebajikan, wakaf agak unik berbanding dengan sedekah, hadiah dan derma kerana harta yang diwakafkan itu akan di 'tahan' ia itu tidak dihabiskan tetapi sebaliknya apa-apa manfaat atau pulangan daripada penggunaan harta wakaf itu boleh dibelanjankan. Bermula dengan amalan wakaf harta tetap secara langsung, dewasa ini perkembangan wakaf adalah dalam bentuk wakaf tunai dan daripada tunai inilah sebahagiannya dimanfaatkan untuk pembangunan atau pembelian hartanah atau harta lain dan sebahagian pula akan dilaburkan dalam pasaran kewangan. Mengambil iktibar daripada sejarah amalan wakaf di dalam tamaddun Islam serta amalan 'endowmen' di dunia Barat, mekanisme atau kaedah wakaf tunai (aset cair) dalam berbagai aplikasi atau produk perlu dilaksanakan dengan segera. Pembangunan ini dapat dipercepatkan melalui badan khas diperingkat negeri dan kebangsaan dengan mengambil pelajaran daripada perkembangan institusi-institusi zakat. Penulis membuat saranan akan beberapa produk wakaf pendidikan yang berpotensi.

Background: Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with unique physicochemical properties have received a great deal of interest in the field of biological, chemical and biomedical implementations. Despite the widespread use of AuNPs in chemical and biological sensing, catalysis, imaging and diagnosis, and more recently in therapy, no comprehensive summary has been provided to explain how AuNPs could aid in developing improved sensing and catalysts systems as well as medical settings. Scope of review: The chemistry of Au-based nanosystems was followed by reviewing different applications of Au nanomaterials in biological and chemical sensing, catalysis, imaging and diagnosis by a number of approaches, and finally synergistic combination therapy of different cancers. Afterwards, the clinical impacts of AuNPs, future application of AuNPs, and opportunities and challenges of AuNPs application were also discussed. Major conclusions: AuNPs show exclusive colloidal stability and are considered as ideal candidates for colorimetric detection, catalysis, imaging, and photothermal transducers, because their physicochemical properties can be tuned by adjusting their structural dimensions achieved by the different manufacturing methods. General significance: This review provides some details about using AuNPs in sensing and catalysis applications as well as promising theranostic nanoplatforms for cancer imaging and diagnosis, and sensitive, non-invasive, and synergistic methods for cancer treatment in an almost comprehensive manner. Recently, the properties of metal NPs have been the subject of intense research due to the interesting properties of their SPR. Plasmonic metal NPs exhibit unique absorption, scattering, and surface localized electric-field intensities. The effect of NP size, shape, composition and inter-particle separation distance on SPR, have received significant attention with regards to finding optimal NP dimensions with high

Sesbania grandiflora L. an indigenous species native to Asian, South-Asian nations widely used for innumerable purpose. The plant is accepted for its vast use for an economic benefit from environmental valuation to human livelihood. Nation such as Indonesia, Philippines cultivate this plant for economical purpose. The plant is also known to be useful for manufacture of paper and pulp. Thus, cellulose and fibres generated from various sources from this plant is highly valued in developing the economy. Moreover, the seeds of Sesbania are indeed utilized for consumption purpose. The current research is carried out to testify the amount of Dietary fibre in the seeds of Sesbania grandiflora L. Researches have shown the plant leaves enriched with high amount of nutrient content, hence the seed of the plant too forms an attractive theme to search out and study experimentally for the various nutritional sources. The research carried out for evaluation of dietary fibre successfully concludes the quantity and its consumption on a daily basis in a diet.

Sound plays a key role in the environment from identifying to analysing. The production of sound signifies various aspects to produce a specific effect up-to a special distance till which it travels. The friction of materials leads a release of sound waves impacting a targeted zone. However, the waves produce is determined by a unit dB (decibals). Hence, a frequency of sound if crosses the level of standard dB of prescribed sound, lead in production of Noise / Sound pollution. The current research experiment is attempted to determine the sound/noise pollution by using a Digital Sound level meter in the environmental zone at Sundernagar; located in Malad (west), Mumbai, India. The research experiment successfully concludes the sound pollution produced by the vehicle with maximum and minimum limits of dB which is statistically proven and found to be significant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels by a test of One Way-ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA).

The 21st century has witnessed precipitous changes spanning from the way of life to the technologies that emerged. We have entered anascent paradigmshift(industry 4.0) where sciencefictions have becomescience facts, and technologyfusion is the main driver.us, ensuring that any advancement intechnologyreach andbenefitall istheideal opportunity foreveryone.In thisstudy, disruptive technologies of industry 4.0 were explored and quantified in terms of the number of their appearances in published literature.e study aimed at identifying industry 4.0 key technologies which have been ill-defined by previous researchers and to enumerate the required skills of industry 4.0. Comprehensive literature survey covering the field of engineering, production, and management was done in multidisciplinary databases: Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, Sage, Taylor & Francis, and Emerald Insight. From the electronic survey, 35 disruptive technologies were quantified and 13 key technologies: Internet ofings, Big Data, 3D printing, Cloud computing, Autonomous robots, Virtual and Augmented reality, Cyber-physical system, Artificial intelligence, Smart sensors, Simulation, Nanotechnology, Drones, and Biotechnology were identified. Both technical and personal skills to be imparted into the human workforce for industry 4.0 were reported. e review identified the need to investigate the capability and the readiness of developing countries in adapting industry 4.0 in terms of the changes in the education systems and industrial manufacturing settings. is study proposes the need to address the integration of industry 4.0 concepts into the current education system.

3D bioprinting of tissues and organs is game changer and promising technology in medicine. It has also great potential to be substitution of animal models as artifi cial tissue or organ platforms and can be used for transplantation to the patient directly. Natural and synthetic polymers can be used as bioinks in order to develop tissue or organ models and they can be applied from benches to clinical application. In this review, it is aimed to summarize 3D printing technology in medicine and bioinks.

optoelectronics applications. We discuss the main characteristics of optical excitations in quasi-1D armchair graphene nanoribbons (A-GNRs) by means of ab-initio many-body calculations [1]. Our theoretical approach includes both selfenergy corrections and excitonic effects through the GW-BSE formalism, providing full understanding of excited-state properties. Electron-hole interaction is found to suppress the van Hove singularities-as known for other 1D systems-and introduces strongly bound excitonic peaks. Starting from these ideal structures, we discuss the effect of width modulation on confinement and optical response [2]. Our results show that edge-modulated A-GNRs are efficient systems for the creation of carbonbased QD structures with prominent exciton localization features. [1] D.

Silver nanoparticles are the most important nanomaterials for antibacterial uses and are famous for their strong inhibitory and antibacterial effects. In recent years, extensive studies have been undertaken on the use of antimicrobial properties of silver, incorporated within aquaculture industry. To evaluate the scientific basis for the use of the nano silver in shrimp aquaculture, in this study the antimicrobial activities of colloidal nano silver with two different sizes (16.62 and 22.22 nm) was evaluated against gram negative bacteria, V. harveyi. Before the experiments, cAgNPs were characterized using several analytical techniques. Well diffusion method, micro-dilution tests (MIC and MBC) and kinetic of death were used to evaluate the bactericidal activity of the nanoparticles. Results showed that MIC and MBC values of cAgNPs in both studied sizes are equal (MIC = MBC). Best bactericidal kinetics in the presence of 16.62 and 22.22 nm nanoparticles obtained at 4 and 6 h, respectively. The obtained results suggested that smaller silver nanoparticles had a faster antibacterial activity than the larger particles. According to the obtained results, the activity of cAgNPs against V. harveyi is fast and has potential for the treatment of bacterial infection in aquaculture.

The use of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) as an active layer in write-once-read-many optical storage is presented. This novel feature of BR materials may be used on a wide variety of substrates, among them transparent substrates but also paper and plastics. The physical basis of the recording process is polarization-sensitive two-photon absorption. As an example for this new BR application, an identification card equipped with an optical recording strip is presented, which has a capacity of about 1 MB of data. The recording density currently used is 125 kB/cm 2 , which is far from the optical limits but allows operation with cheap terminals using plastic optics. In the examples given, data are stored in blocks of 10 kB each. A special optical encryption procedure allows the stored data to be protected from unauthorized reading. The molecular basis of this property is again the polarization-sensitive recording mechanism. The unique combination of optical storage, photochromism, and traceability of the BR material is combined on the single-molecule level. BR introduces a new quality of storage capability for applications with increased security and anticounterfeiting requirements.

Most synthetic stains are expensive as they are synthesized from mixtures of various chemicals, there is need to explore other cheaper and natural sources of obtaining dyes used as biological stains. For this purpose, Punica granatum peels and Beta vulgaris root extracts were used as a source of natural dyes. Plant parts were extracted using three solvents (acetic acid, ethyl acetate and ethanol) indicate that most dyes with different solvent can capable for plant chromosome staining and also define mitotic cell division. Dyes used with staining agent tannic acid or ferrous sulfate were more sufficient to stain the chromosomes. Punica granatum ethanol solvent show not clearly plant chromosome staining and unable to define the cell division. Punica granatum and Beta vulgaris extracts may be used as chromosome dyes.

Microfluidic biosensing systems with enzyme-based detection have been extensively studied in the last years owing to features such as high specificity, a broad range of analytes and a high degree of automation. This review gives an overview of the most important factors associated with these systems. In the first part, frequently used immobilization protocols such as physisorption and covalent bonding and detection techniques such as amperometry and fluorescence measurements are discussed with respect to effort, lifetime and measurement range. The Michaelis-Menten model describing the kinetics of enzymatic reactions, the role of redox mediators and the limitations of the linear measurement range of enzymatic sensors are introduced. Several possibilities of extending the linear measurement range in microfluidic systems such as diffusion-limiting membranes and the flow injection setup are presented. Regarding the integration of enzymes into microfluidic systems during the fabrication ...

Introduction: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widely employed as biomolecule carriers, but there is a need for further functionalization to broaden their therapeutic application in aqueous environments. A few reports have unraveled biomolecule-CNT interactions as a measure of response of the nanocarrier to drug-encapsulation dynamics. Methods: Herein, the dynamics of encapsulation of the antimicrobial peptide HA-FD-13 (accession code 2L24) into CNTs and hydroxylated CNTs (HCNTs) is discussed. Results: The van der Waals (vdW) interaction energy of CNT-peptide and HCNT-peptide complexes decreased, reaching −110.6 and −176.8 kcal.Mol −1 , respectively, once encapsulation of the peptide inside the CNTs had been completed within 15 ns. The free energy of the two systems decreased to −43.91 and −69.2 kcal.Mol −1 in the same order. Discussion: The peptide was encased in the HCNTs comparatively more rapidly, due to the presence of both electrostatic and vdW interactions between the peptide and HCNTs. However, the peptide remained encapsulated throughout the vdW interaction in both systems. The negative values of the free energy of the two systems showed that the encapsulation process had occurred spontaneously. Of note, the lower free energy in the HCNT system suggested more stable peptide encapsulation.

We report ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR) values in magnetic nanocontacts for Ni, Co, and Fe. The samples range from atomic nanocontacts (smaller than 1nm cross-section) to stable electrodeposited nanocontacts (up to 30nm cross-section). The experiments are done at room temperature and up to 4kOe applied field. We obtain values of stable BMR up to 700%. By manipulating the resistance and the

A potentiometric biosensor based on urease was developed for the quantitative determination of urea concentration in aqueous solutions for biomedical applications. The urease was either physisorbed onto an electrodeposited polyaniline film (PANI), or immobilized on a layer-by-layer film (LbL) assembled over the PANI film, that was obtained by the alternate deposition of charged polysaccharides (carboxymethylpullulan (CMP) and chitosan (CHI)). In the latter case, the urease (Urs) enzyme was either physically adsorbed or covalently grafted to the LbL film using carbodiimide coupling reaction. Potentiometric responses of the enzymatic biosensors were measured as a function of the urea concentration in aqueous solutions (from 10 −6 to 10 −1 mol L −1 urea). Very high sensitivity and short response time were observed for the present biosensor. Moreover, a stability study showed a higher stability over time for the potentiometric response of the sensor with the enzyme-grafted LbL film, testifying for the protective nature of the polysaccharide coating and the interest of covalent grafting.

Supporting Information 1 Powder XRD patterns of hydrothermal products in the system of NaF-LnF 3 [Ln=(a) Pr, (b) Nd, (c) Sm, (d) Eu, (e) Cd, (f) Tb, (g) Dy, and (h) Ho]. Supporting Information 2: TEM images and an electron diffraction pattern of the NaSmF 4 nanostructure. (a) Low magnification TEM image, (b) [0 1 0] SAED pattern, and (c) [0 1 0] HRTEM image. The forbidden 00l reflections with l = 2n+l appear in the [0 1 0] SAED pattern, but the intensity is systematically weak or extinctive when the crystal is rotated along the c-axis. Supporting Information 3 SEM (upper row) and typical TEM (lower row) images of (a) NaEuF 4 , (b) NaGdF 4 , (c) NaTbF 4 , and (d) NaDyF 4. The arrows point to the sections with solid interiors that initially serve as seeds. All images in upper row are at the same scale, as annotated in (b).

Nanotechnologia jako priorytetowy kierunek rozwoju nauki 25 Nanotechnologia jako priorytetowy kierunek rozwoju nauki 31 Rys. 1.1. Liczba projektów z obszaru "nano" zgłoszonych do finansowania przez MNiSW w latach 2006-2011 Rys. 1.2. Liczba zgłoszonych projektów z obszaru "nano" do finansowania przez MNiSW w podziale na typy projektów w latach 2006-2011 Źródło: opracowanie własne na podstawie danych [47]. Źródło: opracowanie własne na podstawie danych [47].

Coprecipitated ferrite nanoparticles were coated with carbon using a hydrothermal method. From transmission electron microscope pictures, we could see that the coated iron oxide nanoparticles were spherical in shape with an average diameter of 90 nm. The strong bonding of carbon on the nanoparticle surfaces was checked by noting the C = O and C = C vibrations in Fourier transform infrared spectra. The spin-lattice relaxation process [T 1 ] and spin-spin relaxation process [T 2 ] relaxivities of hydrogen protons in the aqueous solution of coated nanoparticles were determined to be 1.139 (mM•s)-1 and 1.115 (mM•s)-1 , respectively. These results showed that the carboncoated iron oxide nanoparticles are applicable as both T 1 and T 2 contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging.

The work concerns electron beam assisted physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) of titanium carbo-nitride (TiCN) on D2 tool steel. First, D2 steel substrate was heat treated to support and improve the load bearing capacity of the coating. To reduce the intrinsic gap between D2 substrate and TiCN coating and to improve the adhesive strength of the coating, a thin bond coat of Ti was EB-PV deposited on D2 steel prior to TiCN coating. The deposited coating was characterized in depth using XRD, SEM, AFM, profilometry and nanoindentation; its performance was assessed by the wear tests. The results demonstrated that EB-PVD process is successful in uniform deposition of nanograined (5.7 nm) TiCN coating; this character of the coating enhances its mechanical responses and cohesive strength. AFM topographic characterization confirms nanoscale smoothness of the TiCN coating which is a key factor in upgrading the wear resistance and tribological behavior of the coating. Nanoindentation results showed that the deposited coating is very hard; it is also tough enough. The hardness of the TiCN in this work is too much higher than those reported in the literature by similar works. AFM and nanoindentation results showed that a TiCN coating with thickness of 1.6 μm and roughness of 22 nm exhibits a hardness of 3552 HV which is much higher than those hardnesses reported in previous works. The wear tests showed that the deposited TiCN coating has a higher wear resistance than the D2 steel as well as TiN coating; this better performance is attributed to the modifications made in the coating process and its nanoscale characters .