characterization – Inorganic Nanoparticles Group

Fundamental chemistry at the nanoscale: new insights revealed in our recent ACS Nano paper on colloidal ceria nanoparticles

Editor — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 13:46:32 +0000

Thanks to an ongoing collaboration between our group and the group of Prof. Pieter Glatzel at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESFR), new insights on the fundamental behavior of nanoparticles have been revealed. The work, carried out on our side by Dr. Eduald Casals and Prof. Víctor Puntes, shows that colloidal Ceria nanoparticles of 3nm and 10nm have a delocalized charge distribution with a behavior that is rather in the quantum regime – invoking the picture of a “(nano-sized) electron sponge”.

To achieve these results it was necessary to perform “in situ” high-energy experiments, that is, directly observing the formation and evolution of the nanoparticles with high-energy resolution ﬂuorescence-detected hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (HERFD-XAS), occurring in real time at the ESRF beam line. The study also points out the relevance of the medium in which nanoparticles are immersed, since other previous works performed in high vacuum do not properly reproduce their chemical activity.

Overall, these results indicate that nanoparticles’ chemical activity is closer to that of molecules rather than to the bulk material, highlighting (once again) the complexity of physicochemical behavior of nanostructures. A deeper understanding of these phenomena is a sure prerequisite for analyzing and predicting the biological and toxicological of nanoparticles, particularly for Ceria and others which find multiple applications in energy, medicine and consumer products.

See also press release from ESRF: http://www.esrf.eu/home/news/general/content-news/general/Nano%20sponge.html

Cafun, J.-D., Kvashnina, K. O., Casals, E., Puntes, V. F., & Glatzel, P. Absence of Ce3+ Sites in Chemically Active Colloidal Ceria Nanoparticles. ACS Nano, ACS Nano, 2013, 7 (12), pp 10726–10732.

Access to top European nanoscience facilities: QualityNano call for proposals extended till January 21

Editor — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:12:07 +0000

Providing access to top facilities for nanomaterials processing, characterisation and exposure assessment, the FP7 project QualityNano is now receiving applications for “Transnational Access”, open to the whole European nanosafety community. The project covers all expenses for successful applications, including travel, accommodations and consumables for stays up to a month. Access to 15 major European research sites is via a single application and evaluation process, described at this link of the QualityNano website:

http://www.qualitynano.eu/access.html

The deadline for this fifth call is ~~November 22~~, 2013. The deadline has been EXTENDED TILL JANUARY 21.

The Transnational Access component of the EU-FP7 project QualityNano is dedicated to providing the European nanosafety community with access to services and equipment for nanomaterials synthesis, processing, characterisation and exposure assessment located at major European research centres, known as Transnational Access Facilities (TAFs). A broad array of analytical services will be available, including various techniques in microscopy (TEM, SEM, confocal, etc.) and spectroscopy (XRD, and Z-potential, UV-Vis), as well as centrifugation and purification. The ICN-ICN2 is among the 15 TAFs participating in QualityNano through the Inorganic Nanoparticles Group, which offers technical support in the synthesis and characterisation of diverse types of inorganic nanoparticles.

We encourage you to apply! Do contact our group if we can assist you in any way.

Access to top European nanoscience facilities is now open thanks to project QNano

Editor — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 18:19:08 +0000

Providing access to top facilities for nanomaterials processing, characterisation and exposure assessment, the FP7 project QNano launched its second call for applicants to “Transnational Access”, open to the whole European nanosafety community. The project covers all expenses for the applicant, including travel and consumables. Access to 15 major European research sites is via a single application and evaluation process, described at this link of the QNano website:

http://www.qnano-ri.eu/access.html

The deadline for this second call is August 31, 2012.

The Transnational Access component of the EU-FP7 project QNano is dedicated to providing the European nanosafety community with access to services and equipment for nanomaterials synthesis, processing, characterisation and exposure assessment located at major European research centres, known as Transnational Access Facilities (TAFs). A broad array of analytical services will be available, including various techniques in microscopy (AFM, TEM, SEM, confocal, etc.) and spectroscopy (XRD, and Z-potential, UV-Vis), as well as centrifugation and purification. The ICN is among the 15 TAFs participating in QNano through the Inorganic Nanoparticles Group, which offers technical support in the synthesis and characterisation of diverse types of inorganic nanoparticles.

We encourage you to apply! Do contact our group if we can assist you in any way.

New paper on enzime immobilization published in Langmuir

Editor — Mon, 28 May 2012 17:01:52 +0000

The group’s recent work on bioconjugation for enzime immobilization, carried out by Joan Comenge and Víctor Puntes, has been published in a Langmuir paper in collaboration with the group of Prof. Gregorio Álvaro at the Chemical Engineering Department of UAB. Congratulations Joan!

Rational Nanoconjugation Improves Biocatalytic Performance of Enzymes: Aldol Addition Catalyzed by Immobilized Rhamnulose-1-Phosphate Aldolase. Langmuir 28 (15), pp 6461–6467 (2012):

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/la3003993