In vitro interaction of colloidal nanoparticles with mammalian cells: What have we learned thus far?

• Moritz Nazarenus,
• Qian Zhang,
• Mahmoud G. Soliman,
• Pablo del Pino,
• Beatriz Pelaz,
• Susana Carregal-Romero,
• Joanna Rejman,
• Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser,
• Martin J. D. Clift,
• Reinhard Zellner,
• G. Ulrich Nienhaus,
• James B. Delehanty,
• Igor L. Medintz and
• Wolfgang J. Parak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1477–1490, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.161

• efficiently [34]. Non-fouling polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified NPs, for example, stick less to the cell plasma membrane and are, therefore, incorporated by cells less efficiently than other NPs [35][36][37] (this is also true in vivo as manifested by enhanced retention times [38]). It is clear that, while

Artificial sunlight and ultraviolet light induced photo-epoxidation of propylene over V-Ti/MCM-41 photocatalyst

• Van-Huy Nguyen,
• Shawn D. Lin,
• Jeffrey Chi-Sheng Wu and
• Hsunling Bai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 566–576, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.67

• catalyst. The decay in the photo-activity with time on stream may be due to fouling caused by strongly adsorbed organic species. Comparing to UV-irradiation conditions, the selectivity to AA was lower when using artificial sunlight (Table 1). Takeuchi et al. reported that products with a carbonyl group

• K can be attributed to burn-off of the remaining organic species [41]. The different decay rates observed with UV and UV–visible light/artificial sunlight may come from the different fouling level of strongly adsorbed organic species. Current status of photo-epoxidation of propylene Table 3 compares

Applicability and costs of nanofiltration in combination with photocatalysis for the treatment of dye house effluents

• Wolfgang M. Samhaber and
• Minh Tan Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 476–484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.55

• Nanofiltration (NF) is a capable method for the separation of dyes, which can support and even improve the applicability of photocatalysis in effluent-treatment processes. The membrane process usually will need a special pre-treatment to avoid precipitation and fouling on the membrane surface. Conceptually NF

• treatment is membrane fouling. Therefore a proper pre-treatment of the feed of a nanofiltration separation is the most important measurement to obtain a successful technical application. Many reports are found in the literature, which deal with possible measures for the prevention of fouling in membrane

• filtration. One recent review focuses the coagulation in connection with nanofiltration has been published by Zahrim et al. [6]. Flocculation and the separation of flocculated materials can reduce COD and colour to a great extent and, in addition, decrease the fouling rate in a membrane process. In Figure 1

Constant-distance mode SECM as a tool to visualize local electrocatalytic activity of oxygen reduction catalysts

• Michaela Nebel,
• Thomas Erichsen and
• Wolfgang Schuhmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 141–151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.14

• considerably increases the duration of cd-mode SECM experiments and electrolyte evaporation or electrode fouling may lead to unpredictable errors. The reduction of the time needed for a single SECM experiment using larger tip electrodes and/or increased distances between the grid points contradict the demand

Energy-related nanomaterials

• Paul Ziemann and
• Alexei R. Khokhlov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 678–679, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.76

• energy savings and a significant decrease of the worldwide CO2 emission [1]. It is noteworthy that the nanopatterning of surfaces and interfaces to reduce friction by tailoring their wettability and anti-fouling behavior is often guided by mimicking nature [2][3]. Contributions of advanced materials

New hybrid materials based on poly(ethyleneoxide)-grafted polysilazane by hydrosilylation and their anti-fouling activities

• Thi Dieu Hang Nguyen,
• François-Xavier Perrin and
• Dinh Lam Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 671–677, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.75

• the adhesion of marine bacteria on surfaces, were applied by moisture curing at room temperature. The anti-adhesion performance, and thus the anti-fouling activity, of the coatings against three marine bacteria species, Clostridium sp. SR1, Neisseria sp. LC1 and Neisseria sp. SC1, was examined. The

• anti-fouling activity of the coatings depends on the grafting density and the chain length of PEO. The shortest PEO(350 g/mol)-graft-PSZ with the highest graft density was found to have the best anti-fouling activity. As the density of grafted PEO(750 g/mol) and PEO(2000 g/mol) chains onto the PSZ

• reducing bio-adhesion, i.e., protein adsorption, or the adhesion of bacteria and cells. The environmentally friendly coatings obtained by the grafting of PEO onto PSZ are a promising way to prevent the deposition of marine fouling materials onto the hulls of ships [6]. Several factors have been

Glassy carbon electrodes modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes for the determination of ascorbic acid by square-wave voltammetry

• Sushil Kumar and
• Victoria Vicente-Beckett

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 388–396, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.45

• ) generally occurs at a relatively high oxidation potential (e.g., 400 mV versus Ag/AgCl electrode), indicating a slow electron-transfer rate at the GCE [9]. Such sluggish electrode kinetics may also be due to electrode fouling caused by the deposition of oxidation product(s) of AA on the electrode surface

• insoluble particles on electrode surfaces as well as to protect the electrode from fouling during electrochemical studies, thus improving the performance of the modified electrode [16][17][18]. Multiwalled CNT (MWCNT)-modified GCEs exhibited signals enhanced by about five-fold in the detection of dopamine

• electrode. Table 1 also shows that better repeatability and reproducibility of both peak currents and peak potentials were observed on the modified GCE compared to the bare GCE, demonstrating clearly that the modified electrode was protected from fouling by the Nafion membrane. The limit of detection (LOD

Biomimetics inspired surfaces for drag reduction and oleophobicity/philicity

• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 66–84, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.9

• from marine fouling and play a role in defense against adhesion and growth of marine organisms, e.g., bacteria and algae [11][23]. If oil is present on the surfaces in air or water, surfaces are known to be oleophobic and may exhibit self-cleaning and anti-fouling properties. Many sea animals including

• that can be used against marine ship fouling [17]. Jung and Bhushan [20] proposed a model for predicting the oleophobic/philic nature of surfaces and showed how the water and oil droplets in three phase interfaces influence the wetting behavior on micropatterned surfaces with varying pitch values as

• end of the ribs in turbulent flow as compared to the theoretical pressure drop. Modeling, Fabrication and Characterization of Oleophobic/philic Surfaces Oleophobic surfaces have the potential for self-cleaning and anti-fouling from biological and organic contaminants both in air and underwater

Sensing surface PEGylation with microcantilevers

• Natalija Backmann,
• Natascha Kappeler,
• Thomas Braun,
• François Huber,
• Hans-Peter Lang,
• Christoph Gerber and
• Roderick Y. H. Lim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2010, 1, 3–13, doi:10.3762/bjnano.1.2

• highly effective at reducing protein adsorption from blood [3] thereby improving the biocompatibility of biomedical implants [4]. The protein-resistant properties of PEG have also been applied to reduce membrane fouling in ultrafiltration membranes for water purification [5]. It is important to develop a