Microfluidics as tool to prepare size-tunable PLGA nanoparticles with high curcumin encapsulation for efficient mucus penetration

• Nashrawan Lababidi,
• Valentin Sigal,
• Aljoscha Koenneke,
• Konrad Schwarzkopf,
• Andreas Manz and
• Marc Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2280–2293, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.220

• stabilizer (Pluronic), with a tunable hydrodynamic diameter ranging from 40 nm to 160 nm. The size dependence was evaluated by varying different parameters during preparation, namely polymer concentration, stabilizer concentration, solvent nature, the width of the focus mixing channel, flow rate ratio and

• penetration through mucus [9]. In this context, we have used microfluidics to produce size-tunable PLGA NPs coated with a muco-penetrating stabilizer (Pluronic F68). Relevant factors influencing the NP size were examined, such as flow rate ratio, PLGA concentration, solvent type, diameter of the mixing

• Figure 2 [41]. For this reason, a longer time was required for the diffusive material to be mixed. Another scenario was proposed by Wang et al. [42], who suggested that the increase in NP size at higher FRR is related to the use of larger amounts of solvent causing swelling of the NPs. Afterwards, the

A novel all-fiber-based LiFePO₄/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ battery with self-standing nanofiber membrane electrodes

• Li-li Chen,
• Hua Yang,
• Mao-xiang Jing,
• Chong Han,
• Fei Chen,
• Xin-yu Hu,
• Wei-yong Yuan,
• Shan-shan Yao and
• Xiang-qian Shen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2229–2237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.215

• hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) copolymer was used as the electrolyte membrane matrix in this experiment, and acetone was used as the solvent. The PVDF-HFP solution was prepared by dissolving PVDF-HFP in acetone (PVDF-HFP (mass/g): acetone (volume/mL) = 1:15) through stirring at room temperature. The solution was

• transferred to a PTFE dish, and dried naturally until the solvent evaporates completely. The obtained electrolyte membrane is shown in Figure S1a (Supporting Information File 1). The optimum thickness of the electrolyte membrane is 60–70 μm. The prepared electrolyte membrane was then punched into a disk with

Mannosylated brush copolymers based on poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(ε-caprolactone) as multivalent lectin-binding nanomaterials

• Stefania Ordanini,
• Wanda Celentano,
• Anna Bernardi and
• Francesco Cellesi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2192–2206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.212

• gel 230–400 mesh (Merck). Automated flash chromatography was performed on a Biotage® Isolera™ Prime system. NMR experiments were recorded on a Bruker AVANCE 400 MHz instrument at 298 K. Chemical shifts (δ) are reported in ppm downfield from the deuterated solvent as internal standard, coupling

• constants (J) in Hz. The 1H NMR resonances of compounds were assigned with the assistance of COSY and HSQC experiments. HSQC experiments were also used to assign the chemical shift of protons overlapping with the solvent signals. Signals were abbreviated as s, singlet; bs, broad singlet; d, doublet; t

• filtered through a celite pad (h = 6 cm, Φ = 2 cm), washing with toluene, and then the filtrate was evaporated under reduced pressure. The residue was taken up in 112.5 mL of CH2Cl2, washed with brine (3 × 45 mL) and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The solvent was evaporated under vacuum, obtaining

Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• . We synthesized three samples using a solvothermal approach, which was carried out under mild conditions in ethylene glycol as a green solvent. We tackled the aforementioned difficulties in phase assignment by means of thorough characterization, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron

• Haën AG), thiourea SC(NH2)2 (TU, Merck), and ethylene glycol (EG, 99%, Alfa Aesar). The solvothermal approach used in this work exploits TU as a sulfide source in a one-pot synthesis with the solvent and the metal salts similar to the synthesis of FeS2 and Cu2ZnSnS4 [35][45] nanopowders. In a two-neck

Incorporation of doxorubicin in different polymer nanoparticles and their anticancer activity

• Sebastian Pieper,
• Hannah Onafuye,
• Dennis Mulac,
• Jindrich Cinatl Jr.,
• Mark N. Wass,
• Martin Michaelis and
• Klaus Langer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2062–2072, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.201

• solvent displacement and emulsion diffusion approaches and assessed their anticancer efficiency in neuroblastoma cells, including ABCB1-expressing cell lines, in comparison to doxorubicin solution. Results: The resulting nanoparticles covered a size range between 73 and 246 nm. PLGA-PEG nanoparticle

• preparation by solvent displacement led to the smallest nanoparticles. In PLGA nanoparticles, the drug load could be optimised using solvent displacement at pH 7 reaching 53 µg doxorubicin/mg nanoparticle. These PLGA nanoparticles displayed sustained doxorubicin release kinetics compared to the more burst

• -like kinetics of the other preparations. In neuroblastoma cells, doxorubicin-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles (presumably due to their small size) and PLGA nanoparticles prepared by solvent displacement at pH 7 (presumably due to their high drug load and superior drug release kinetics) exerted the

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• [149]. This kind of molecular recognition based on hydrogen bonding and/or electrostatic interaction is weakened in polar media such as water phase. Chemical species with uneven charge distribution within a molecule are stabilized by solvation with polar solvent molecules, which is highly

Optimization and performance of nitrogen-doped carbon dots as a color conversion layer for white-LED applications

• Tugrul Guner,
• Hurriyet Yuce,
• Didem Tascioglu,
• Eren Simsek,
• Umut Savaci,
• Aziz Genc,
• Servet Turan and
• Mustafa M. Demir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2004–2013, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.197

• citrate and urea were mixed at a weight fraction of 1:1 and homogeneously ground. The mixture was subsequently heated under reflux for 15 min in air without any solvent. After the reaction, the mixture was purified by centrifugation at a rotation rate of 6000 rpm for 20 min [53]. Finally, the resultants

Nanostructured and oriented metal–organic framework films enabling extreme surface wetting properties

• Andre Mähringer,
• Julian M. Rotter and
• Dana D. Medina

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1994–2003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.196

• placed on a glass platform above a solvent bath inside a glass autoclave. Subsequently, the reactor was sealed and placed at 85 °C in a preheated oven. After 12 h of reaction time, the reactor was removed from the oven and allowed to cool down to room temperature. The substrates were recovered, washed

Pulsed laser synthesis of highly active Ag–Rh and Ag–Pt antenna–reactor-type plasmonic catalysts

• Kenneth A. Kane and
• Massimo F. Bertino

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1958–1963, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.192

• activity after five cycles that did not persist after a higher number of cycles. The exact cause is presently unclear. Due to the unorthodox nature of the cycling experiments (i.e., no washing or solvent exchange between the cycles), the results are insufficient to conclude that the heterostructures are

The influence of porosity on nanoparticle formation in hierarchical aluminophosphates

• Matthew E. Potter,
• Lauren N. Riley,
• Alice E. Oakley,
• Panashe M. Mhembere,
• June Callison and
• Robert Raja

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1952–1957, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.191

• . Metal analysis on the deposited MP-SAPO-5 (Table S3, Supporting Information File 1) shows that the gold loadings vary significantly depending on the immobilisation strategy used, with IW being the most effective (0.66 wt % Au) and WI being the least (0.10 wt % Au). Likely the minimal amount of solvent

• used in the IW method increases support–metal interactions leading to more rapid deposition. The minimal amount of solvent will also be readily adsorbed into the internal pores of the material by capillary action, encouraging the metal to deposit on the micropores and mesopores and not just on the

• external surface. In contrast, the excess solvent used in WI will promote deposition primarily on the external surface. AE results in a reasonable deposition efficiency (0.49 wt % Au). Likely the evaporation stage of this process also encourages limited capillary action, similar to IW. Excellent agreement

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• FZU-0021-194-P2 To a solution of Di (829 mg, 2 mmol) in EtOH (25 mL) was added FePc (28 mg, 0.05 mmol), NaBH4 (378 mg, 10 mmol) and KCNO (811 mg, 10 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at rt under air for 48 h. The solvent was then evaporated to dryness and the residue was diluted with EtOAc (20

• . Preparation of phytosomes DiP and P2P were prepared with lecithin in the prescribed ratio (1:1, molar ratio) by the thin film hydration method. First, lecithin and Di/P2 were dissolved in chloroform at a molar ratio of 1:1. The organic solvent was evaporated using a rotary evaporator to produce a thin lipid

Preservation of rutin nanosuspensions without the use of preservatives

• Pascal L. Stahr and
• Cornelia M. Keck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1902–1913, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.185

• active ingredient occurs, changes in the IC50 value during storage can be observed [35]. As methanol is a good solvent for rutin, the addition of the nanocrystals to the methanolic DPPH solution led to a complete dissolution of the rutin nanocrystals. Hence, all rutin remaining in the formulations was

Charge-transfer interactions between fullerenes and a mesoporous tetrathiafulvalene-based metal–organic framework

• Manuel Souto,
• Joaquín Calbo,
• Samuel Mañas-Valero,
• Aron Walsh and
• Guillermo Mínguez Espallargas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1883–1893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.183

• ° confirming that crystallinity is maintained after encapsulation of C60 and removal of the solvent (Figure 2). It is important to note that the principal peak is slightly shifted when comparing the experimental and simulated PXRD patterns. This can be explained by the breathing behaviour of MUV-2 [53]. The

Engineered superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) for dual-modality imaging of intracranial glioblastoma via EGFRvIII targeting

• Xianping Liu,
• Chengjuan Du,
• Haichun Li,
• Ting Jiang,
• Zimiao Luo,
• Zhiqing Pang,
• Daoying Geng and
• Jun Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1860–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.181

• . To analyze the concentration of peptide in the supernatant, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) (Agilent 1200, USA) was used, where the mixture of solvent A and solvent B (59/41, v/v) was used as the mobile phase. Solvent A was 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid dissolved in deionized water and

• solvent B was 0.09% trifluoroacetic acid with 80% acetonitrile solution. The peptide conjugation efficiency was calculated according to the following formula: Characterization of PEG-SPIONs The morphological shape of the PNPs was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (H-600, Hitachi, Japan

Long-term entrapment and temperature-controlled-release of SF₆ gas in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)

• Hana Bunzen,
• Andreas Kalytta-Mewes,
• Leo van Wüllen and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1851–1859, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.180

• the procedure reported previously [12]. By carrying out the reported microwave-assisted synthesis, ≈2–10 µm cubic crystals were obtained (Figure S1 in Supporting Information File 1). Prior to guest loading, the sample was kept under vacuum at 320 °C overnight to make sure that there were no solvent

• . Similar variations in the peak intensities of MOF samples have been previously described and assigned to the presence of solvent molecules inside the pores [33]. Therefore, here the changes in intensities can be seen as a sign of SF6 molecules being successfully included into the pores. Last but not least

• under vacuum at 320 °C overnight to remove any solvent molecules from the voids. SF6-loading experiments Analogous as described in [12], in each experiment, 50−100 mg of MFU-4 was placed in a steel vessel constructed from metal tubing attached to a manometer. The vessel was filled with SF6 gas and kept

Processing nanoporous organic polymers in liquid amines

• Jeehye Byun,
• Damien Thirion and
• Cafer T. Yavuz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1844–1850, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.179

• challenging. Herein, we report that nanoporous polymers made via a Knoevenagel-like condensation can be easily processed into nanoparticles (115.7 ± 40.8 nm) or a flawless film by using liquid amines as a solvent at elevated temperatures. FTIR spectra revealed that the carboxyl groups in the nanoporous

• -CN proton and the successive dehydration [19][20]. COP-100, however, was intended to have a hydroxylated structure by using a bulky base (t-BuOK) and an aprotic solvent (THF), where the second deprotonation and the concomitant dehydration does not occur as the bulky base cannot easily access inside

• the polymer network. From our previous findings, the hydroxylated COP-100 exhibited the highest surface area of 82.3 m2·g−1 among all the tested combinations of base and solvent [18]. The mild reaction conditions of COP-100 further left carbonyl units in the structure to be reactive sites for further

Microfluidic manufacturing of different niosomes nanoparticles for curcumin encapsulation: Physical characteristics, encapsulation efficacy, and drug release

• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Ibrahim Khadra,
• Abdullah Albaloushi,
• Margaret Mullin,
• Hanin Alyamani and
• Valerie A. Ferro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1826–1832, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.177

• surfactants prepared by the solvent evaporation method, Xu et al. were able to achieve around 92% loading efficiency of curcumin and measured enhanced cytotoxic activity against ovarian cancer cells compared with freely dispersed curcumin [9]. Microfluidic mixing is a recently developed method for the

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• ). The chemical shifts were expressed in parts per million (ppm) and are referenced to the residual water signal. All spectra were recorded at 25 °C. For all experiments, a recycle delay of 5 s was used, which was sufficiently greater than the relaxation time T1. To suppress the solvent signal, the WET

Biocatalytic oligomerization-induced self-assembly of crystalline cellulose oligomers into nanoribbon networks assisted by organic solvents

• Yuuki Hata,
• Yuka Fukaya,
• Toshiki Sawada,
• Masahito Nishiura and
• Takeshi Serizawa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1778–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.173

• ; nanoribbon networks; oligomerization-induced self-assembly; organic solvent; Introduction Nanoarchitectonics is an emerging concept based on nanotechnology and other scientific fields, such as supramolecular chemistry, for constructing functional materials and systems in a bottom-up manner with the

• reports [31][42]. After the reaction, colorless solid products were observed in the solutions with relatively low organic solvent concentrations, suggesting the successful synthesis of water-insoluble cellulose oligomers under those conditions (Figure 2). Remarkably, the reaction mixtures with 10–20 vol

• % DMSO and 10 vol % EtOH were found to be in gel states after the reaction (Figure 2, photographs with yellow background). The apparent turbidity of the reaction mixtures decreased with increasing organic solvent concentrations for each organic solvent species (Figure 2). The observations were simply due

Growth dynamics and light scattering of gold nanoparticles in situ synthesized at high concentration in thin polymer films

• Corentin Guyot,
• Philippe Vandestrick,
• Ingrid Marenne,
• Olivier Deparis and
• Michel Voué

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1768–1777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.172

• ) refer to the evaporation of residual solvent, to the relaxation of thickness and to the changes of the refractive index, respectively. Correlation plot between the standard deviation of the ellipsometric angles Ψ and Δ during film annealing (open circles: experimental data, lines: linear fits). The

Synthesis of nickel/gallium nanoalloys using a dual-source approach in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazole ionic liquids

• Ilka Simon,
• Julius Hornung,
• Juri Barthel,
• Jörg Thomas,
• Maik Finze,
• Roland A. Fischer and
• Christoph Janiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1754–1767, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.171

• solvent purification system or 4 Å molecular sieves (1-methylimidazole, 1-chlorobutane) and stored over 4 Å molecular sieves in a nitrogen atmosphere. Remaining water contents of the solvents were measured by a coulometric Karl-Fischer titration (ECH/ANALYTIK JENA AQUA 40.00) and did not exceed 10 ppm. Ni

The impact of crystal size and temperature on the adsorption-induced flexibility of the Zr-based metal–organic framework DUT-98

• Simon Krause,
• Volodymyr Bon,
• Hongchu Du,
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski,
• Ulrich Stoeck,
• Irena Senkovska and
• Stefan Kaskel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1737–1744, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.169

• on the structural contraction upon solvent removal [15][16]. In a recent report, we demonstrated the suppression of adsorption-induced contraction in the MOF DUT-49 (where the name DUT is derived from Dresden University of Technology) upon downsizing of the crystals below 1 µm [9] and loss of

• supramolecular building blocks (SBBs), which consist of Zr6 clusters interconnected by 3,6-carbazole dicarboxylate ligands [20]. An additional benzoate functionality of the ligand connects the SBB into a 3D framework with a structure (Figure 1) similar to MIL-53 [21][22]. Upon removal of the solvent molecules

• , which increase or decreases the crystal size, respectively. By changing the solvent, reaction time, concentration of acetic acid, and water content of the reaction mixture, four DUT-98 samples containing particles of different size, namely DUT-98(1)–(4) could be obtained (Figure 3). All solvated samples

TiO₂/GO-coated functional separator to suppress polysulfide migration in lithium–sulfur batteries

• Ning Liu,
• Lu Wang,
• Taizhe Tan,
• Yan Zhao and
• Yongguang Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1726–1736, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.168

• diameter of 18 mm. For reference, a pure GO-modified separator was fabricated using the same process. Synthesis of sulfur cathode The sulfur cathode was prepared by mixing 70 wt % of elemental sulfur, 10 wt % PVDF and 20 wt % Ketjen black in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent to form a slurry, which was

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

• spherical particles due to the low-viscosity-based solution. In this process, the electric field generated monodisperse drops that contracted due to the fast evaporation of the solvent induced by Columbic explosion [21][22]. Figure 2a–c shows photographs of the three steps of the process: electrosprayed

Nanoporous smartPearls for dermal application – Identification of optimal silica types and a scalable production process as prerequisites for marketed products

• David Hespeler,
• Sanaa El Nomeiri,
• Jonas Kaltenbach and
• Rainer H. Müller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1666–1678, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.162

• addition, a scalable production process was demonstrated. The loading of the particles was performed by applying the immersion–evaporation method. The antioxidant rutin was used as a model active agent and ethanol was applied as the solvent. Various silica particles (Syloid®, Davisil®) differing in

• solvent removal) can be industrially realized in a commercial 50 L rotary evaporator. Keywords: amorphous dispersion; bioavailability enhancement; dermal delivery system; rutin; smartPearls; solubility enhancement; Introduction Many interesting active agents in pharma and cosmetics are poorly soluble

• increased percent of loading). The suspension was stirred for 5 min to achieve a fine dispersion of the particles. Then the suspension was placed into a rotary evaporator (Büchi, Germany). The solvent evaporation took place at 40 ± 2 °C and 150 ± 10 mbar, until a film was formed on the wall of the