http://www.hindawi.com The latest articles from Hindawi Publishing Corporation © 2013 , Hindawi Publishing Corporation . All rights reserved. Mon, 20 May 2013 16:56:25 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/527432/ A nanocomposite coating was formed by incorporating nanoalumina pigment in a waterborne polyurethane dispersion (WPUD) to different loading levels (0.1% and 1.0% by weight). Electrochemical performance of the nanocomposite coating was evaluated by applying these nanomodified coatings on mild steel substrate and exposing them to salt-spray, humidity, and accelerated UV weathering. The surface morphology of the composite coating was evaluated using various analytical techniques. SEM and AFM were used to investigate the dispersion of nanoalumina pigment and surface morphological changes of the nanomodified coating, before and after exposure to the test environment. Mechanical properties like scratch resistance were studied by using nanoscratch technique (Nanoindenter TI-900, Hysitron Inc, USA) and hardness using pencil hardness test method. The results showed an improvement in the corrosion, UV weathering, and mechanical properties of the coatings at lower concentration (0.1% by wt), indicating the positive effect of addition of nanoalumina pigment to the coating. Shailesh K. Dhoke, Narayani Rajgopalan, and A. S. Khanna Copyright © 2013 Shailesh K. Dhoke et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 16 May 2013 15:32:34 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/106152/ The applications of nanotechnology to pharmacology are the potential appliance of biodegradable polymers and convection-enhanced drug delivery in the diagnostics and treatment of diseases. Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide that has attracted significant scientific interest during the last two decades. The present study was to evaluate the possible effects of chitosan tripolyphosphate conjugated nanochloroquine against Plasmodium berghei infection on select makers of oxidative damage and antioxidant status in mitochondria of liver and spleen. P. berghei infection was developed in Swiss mice by intraperitoneal injection of 200 µL of infected blood. Parasite-infected mice were treated with chloroquine and nanoconjugated chloroquine. Superoxide radical generation, nitrate level, and oxidized glutathione were increased significantly () in the mitochondria of infected group as compared to control group, and reduced glutathione level, activity of SOD, GPx, GR, and GST, and mitochondrial transmembrane potential were decreased significantly (), which were increased or decreased significantly () near to normal in nanoconjugated chloroquine treated group than chloroquine treated group. So, the findings may suggest the advantageous role of nanoconjugated chloroquine against the P. berghei induced oxidative damage in hepatic and splenic mitochondria. Satyajit Tripathy, Sabyasachi Das, Sandeep Kumar Dash, Sourav Chattopadhyay, and Somenath Roy Copyright © 2013 Satyajit Tripathy et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 16 May 2013 11:12:34 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/182320/ Development of an ecofriendly, reliable, and rapid process for synthesis of nanoparticles using biological system is an important bulge in nanotechnology. Antioxidant potential and medicinal value of Adiantum philippense L. fascinated us to utilize it for biosynthesis of gold and silver nanoparticles (AuNPs and AgNPs). The current paper reports utility of aqueous extract of A. philippense L. fronds for the green synthesis of AuNPs and AgNPs. Effect of various parameters on synthesis of nanoparticles was monitored by UV-Vis spectrometry. Optimum conditions for AuNPs synthesis were 1 : 1 proportion of original extract at pH 11 and 5 mM tetrachloroauric acid, whereas optimum conditions for AgNPs synthesis were 1 : 1 proportion of original extract at pH 12 and 9 mM silver nitrate. Characterization of nanoparticles was done by TEM, SAED, XRD, EDS, FTIR, and DLS analyses. The results revealed that AuNPs and AgNPs were anisotropic. Monocrystalline AuNPs and polycrystalline AgNPs measured 10 to 18 nm in size. EDS and XRD analyses confirmed the presence of elemental gold and silver. FTIR analysis revealed a possible binding of extract to AuNPs through –NH2 group and to AgNPs through C=C group. These nanoparticles stabilized by a biological capping agent could further be utilized for biomedical applications. Duhita G. Sant, Tejal R. Gujarathi, Shrikant R. Harne, Sougata Ghosh, Rohini Kitture, Sangeeta Kale, Balu A. Chopade, and Karishma R. Pardesi Copyright © 2013 Duhita G. Sant et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:38:25 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/431218/ The unique property of the silver nanoparticles having the antimicrobial activity drags the major attention towards the present nanotechnology. The environmentally nontoxic, ecofriendly, and cost-effective method that has been developed for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles using plant extracts creates the major research interest in the field of nanobiotechnology. The synthesized silver nanoparticles have been characterized by the UV-visible spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Further, the antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles was evaluated by well diffusion method, and it was found that the biogenic silver nanoparticles have antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Azotobacter chroococcum WR 9, and Bacillus licheniformis (MTCC 9555). Ram Prasad and Vyshnava Satyanarayana Swamy Copyright © 2013 Ram Prasad and Vyshnava Satyanarayana Swamy. All rights reserved. Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:06:47 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/273204/ Wood is a renewable material widely used in many applications due to its unique properties and distinctive look. However, as wood is organically constituted, it is slowly destroyed by the long-term impact of oxygen, UV radiations, water, and biological attacks (Mahltig et al., 2008). Therefore, protective treatments are necessary to improve the mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties of wood. In order to improve the mechanical properties of sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.), as this species is widely used in the wood products industry, samples of sugar maple were impregnated with sols of metal oxides (AlO(OH), SiO2, and ZrO2). The weight gain and two different techniques of microscopy were used to evaluate the efficiency of the impregnation in the wood samples. The mechanical properties were evaluated using hardness test, scratch test, and impact test. It was shown that the maple samples impregnated with ZrO2 led to the greatest improvement of the mechanical properties. Véronic Landry, Pierre Blanchet, and Gabrielle Boivin Copyright © 2013 Véronic Landry et al. All rights reserved. Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:28:03 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/507161/ The TiO2/SiO2 and ZnO/SiO2 composite films were prepared by sol-gel dip coating method. The surface morphology and crystal structure of thin films were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with elementary dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Optical properties of films have been investigated using ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy (UV-visible spectroscopy). The photocatalytic activity was established by testing the degradation and decolorization of methyl green (MG) from aqueous solution with artificial UV-light. V. L. Chandraboss, B. Karthikeyan, J. Kamalakkannan, S. Prabha, and S. Senthilvelan Copyright © 2013 V. L. Chandraboss et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:46:28 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/671214/ Synthesis of poorly crystalline, randomly oriented rag-like structures of molybdenum disulfide has been reported starting from aqueous solutions of ammonium molybdate, and thioacetamide in presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate via calcination of the amorphous precipitates, obtained through acidification of the in situ generated intermediate of ammonium tetrathiomolybdate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction of the calcined samples reveal the formation of single-phase MoS2, while the amorphous precipitates have been found to be a mixture of Mo2S5, MoS3, and a trace amount of H2MoS4. Highly folded and disordered layers of rag-like MoS2 have been confirmed through high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The electrical conductivity for the cold pressed pellet of the MoS2 sample is found to be significantly higher than that of 2H-MoS2 and increases further on annealing. Pravas Kumar Panigrahi and Amita Pathak Copyright © 2013 Pravas Kumar Panigrahi and Amita Pathak. All rights reserved. Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:58:52 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/690407/ Polypyrrole (PPy), one of the most extensively investigated conducting polymers, has attracted a great deal of interest because of its good electrical conductivity, environmental stability, and easy synthesis. PPy films were produced by polymerization of pyrrole and tosylate (TsO−) as dopants in the presence of oxidant FeCl3 and polyethylene glycol ( 8000) at −5°C for 48 h. High energy milling was carried out at 850 rpm in the dry media with the balls of 10 mm. Particles were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope and Dynamic Light Scattering techniques for size distribution, and it was found that the size of PPy particles is a decreasing function of time of milling. Electrical conductivity was measured by preparing a homogenous aqueous dispersion of PPy particles and found as exponential decreasing function of time of milling. The changes occurred in PPy after milling was analyzed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Abdul Malik Rehan Abbasi, Miroslava Marsalkova, and Jiri Militky Copyright © 2013 Abdul Malik Rehan Abbasi et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:51:21 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/780786/ A rapid, improved, and ecofriendly synthesis of thiopyrimidines is carried out via one-pot multicomponent reaction of ethylcyanoacetate, substituted benzaldehydes, and thiourea in presence of ethanolic K2CO3 using microwave irradiation heating method. Excellent yields, shorter reaction time, and easy workup are the major advantageous features of this green protocol. So the application of multicomponent reactions involves the combination of multiple starting materials with different functional groups leading to the highly efficient and environmentally friendly construction of multifunctional drug molecules. The structures of the newly synthesized products were assigned on the basis of IR and 1HNMR spectral data. Biswa Mohan Sahoo, B. V. V. Ravi Kumar, Jnyanaranjan Panda, and S. C. Dinda Copyright © 2013 Biswa Mohan Sahoo et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:48:29 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/524150/ In this work we present an electrochemical method to successfully prepare silver nanoparticles using only polyethylene glycol as stabilizer and without any other reactive. Here we study the use of the polymeric stabilizer to allow the introduction of a potential tool to reinforce the control of the size and shape of the nanoparticles throughout the synthesis process. The evolution of the reactions was followed by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The electrode processes were characterized by cyclic voltammetric measurements and the final product was studied by Atomic Force Microscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and X-Ray Diffraction. The influences of the current density, polymer length, and concentration media were analyzed. M. Virginia Roldán, Nora Pellegri, and Oscar de Sanctis Copyright © 2013 M. Virginia Roldán et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:47:46 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/754385/ The aim of this research was developing alginate nanoparticles as a carrier for food enrichment. In this research, Fe/Zn-loaded alginate nanoparticles were prepared and characterized as point size, morphology, FTIR, loading efficacy (LE), and release properties and used in ice cream structure. After this stage, absorption of the salts was measured and sensory and rheological evaluations were taken for samples. Results showed that alginate nanoparticles have average size between 90 and 135 nm. Also, the shape of the nanoparticles is regular and smooth without aggregation phenomena. FTIR certified that Zn/Fe loaded into alginate nanoparticles. Also, loading efficacy of Zn/Fe was 70–85% and release profile of nanoparticles showed a steady state. Alginate nanoparticles could decrease the loss of Fe/Zn in comparison control. Furthermore, these nanoparticles have no side effects on sensory and rheological properties. Hence, this nanoparticle can be suggestive for the enrichment of ice cream and probably other foods. Armoon Sharifi, Leila Golestan, and Mazyar Sharifzadeh Baei Copyright © 2013 Armoon Sharifi et al. All rights reserved. Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:22:06 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/150414/ The synthesis of nanoparticles with desired size and shape is an important area of research in nanotechnology. Use of biological system is an alternative approach to chemical and physical procedures for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles. An efficient environment-friendly approach for the biosynthesis of rapid and stable Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) using whole cells of Geotrichum candidum is discussed in this paper. The enzymes/proteins present in the microorganism might be responsible for the reduction of metal salts to nanoparticles. Various reaction parameters such as culture age, temperature, pH, metal salt, and cell mass concentrations were optimized. The AuNPs were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Nanoparticles were isolated by sonicating the whole cells after treatment with Tween 80. The whole cell mediated process showed the simplistic, feasible, easy to scale up, and low-cost approach for the synthesis of AuNPs. Amit Kumar Mittal, Abhishek Kaler, Aparna Vasant Mulay, and Uttam Chand Banerjee Copyright © 2013 Amit Kumar Mittal et al. All rights reserved. Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:53:03 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/601363/ The forced convective heat transfer (FCHT) properties of nanofluids, made of Fe3O4 nanomaterials and deionized water, are firstly measured by a self-made forced convective heat transfer apparatus. The nanofluid flows through a horizontal copper tube in the transition region with Reynolds numbers in the range of 2500–5000. Some parameters including Reynolds number, axial distance, and mass concentration are also investigated. The preliminary results are firstly presented that the heat transfer coefficients of Fe3O4 nanofluids systematically decrease with increasing concentration of nanoparticles under transition region which contradicts the initial expectation. Jie Ma, Yinchen Xu, Wenlie Li, Jiantao Zhao, Shuping Zhang, and Sergey Basov Copyright © 2013 Jie Ma et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:53:44 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/841582/ This work describes a method for the deposition of Au nanoparticles on glass plates (Au-glass). An electroless metal plating technique was extended to the Au nanoparticle deposition. The technique consisted of three steps that took place on the glass plate: (1) adsorption of Sn2+ ions, (2) deposition of metallic Ag nuclei generated by reducing Ag+ ions with Sn2+ ions on the Sn-adsorbed sites, and (3) deposition of Au nanoparticles by reducing Au+ ions on the Ag surface. TEM observation revealed that metallic Au nanoparticles with a size of  nm were formed on the glass surface. A surface plasmon resonance absorption peak was observed, and its peak wavelength redshifted by immersing the Au-glass into a solution with a large dielectric constant. The redshift corresponded qualitatively to the calculation by the Mie theory accompanying the Drude expression, which was based on the change of the dielectric constant of the solution. The obtained results indicated that the Au-glass functioned as a sensor for measuring the dielectric constant of the solution. Y. Kobayashi and Y. Ishii Copyright © 2013 Y. Kobayashi and Y. Ishii. All rights reserved. Tue, 26 Mar 2013 14:34:21 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/839391/ Different surfactants such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB,) assisted cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles were synthesized by using cerium chloride and potassium hydroxide as the starting materials via facile hydrothermal route. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that cubic fluorite-type structure of pure CeO2 and the average crystallite sizes were calculated to be ~12–16 nm. Raman spectra of various surfactants assisted CeO2 consist of a single triply degenerated F2g mode characteristic of the fluorite structure. The elongated spherical-like morphology of SDS assisted CeO2 samples was observed from the SEM and TEM studies. Optical absorption spectra showed a blue shift by the capped CeO2 due to the quantum confinement effect. Photoluminescence (PL) emission studies shows that there is a change in the intensity of emission peaks by the capping agents, which indicates that the capping layers did result in size changes or increased surface defect. S. Gnanam and V. Rajendran Copyright © 2013 S. Gnanam and V. Rajendran. All rights reserved. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:46:23 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/546194/ CuO-CeO2 nanocomposite is reported as a highly efficient recyclable catalyst that is applied for the synthesis of Aryl-14H-dibenzo[a-j]xanthenes under solvent-free conditions. The catalyst was synthesized by coprecipitation method and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), BET specific surface area, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The copper nanoparticles are dispersed as fine and amorphous phases on the surface of ceria and made nanoclusters with average size of about 33 nm. This catalyst can be recovered by simple filtration and recycled up to 8 consecutive runs without any losing of its efficiency. This procedure provides several advantages such as simple workup, mild reaction conditions, short reaction times, and high yields of the products. Jalal Albadi, Abdolhossein Razeghi, Hossein Abbaszadeh, and Azam Mansournezhad Copyright © 2013 Jalal Albadi et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:51:32 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/672059/ This paper covers the core-shell nanomaterials, mainly, polymer-core polymer shell, polymer-core metal shell, and polymer-core nonmetal shells. Herein, various synthesis techniques, properties, and applications of these materials have been discussed. The detailed discussion of the properties with experimental parameters has been carried out. The various characterization techniques for the core-shell nanostructure have also been discussed. Their physical and chemical properties have been addressed. The future aspects of such core-shell nanostructures for biomedical and various other applications have been discussed with a special emphasis on their properties. K. Santhosh Kumar, Vijay Bhooshan Kumar, and Pradip Paik Copyright © 2013 K. Santhosh Kumar et al. All rights reserved. Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:31:52 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/141274/ Development of reliable and ecofriendly green approach for synthesis of metallic nanoparticles biologically is an important step in the field of application of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The present paper reports the green approach for iron nanoparticle synthesis using Aspergillus oryzae TFR9 using FeCl3 as a precursor metal salt. Valid characterization techniques employed for biosynthesized iron nanoparticles including dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) for morphological study. X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) spectrum confirmed the presence of elemental iron signal in high percentage. Apart from ecofriendliness and easy availability, low-cost biomass production will be more advantageous when compared to other chemical methods. Biosynthesis of iron nanoparticles using fungus has greater commercial viability that it may be used in agriculture, biomedicals and engineering sector. Jagadish Chandra Tarafdar and Ramesh Raliya Copyright © 2013 Jagadish Chandra Tarafdar and Ramesh Raliya. All rights reserved. Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:09:04 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/531871/ Self-assembly has the advantage of fabricating structures of complex functionalities, from molecular levels to as big as macroscopic levels. Natural self-assembly involves self-aggregation of one or more materials (organic and/or inorganic) into desired structures while templated self-assembly involves interstitial space filling of diverse nature entities into self-assembled ordered/disordered templates (both from molecular to macro levels). These artificial and engineered new-generation materials offer many advantages over their individual counterparts. This paper reviews and explores the advantages of such naturally self-assembled hybrid molecular level systems and template-assisted macro-/microstructures targeting simple and low-cost device-oriented fabrication techniques, structural flexibility, and a wide range of photonic applications. K. Pradeesh, Nageswara Rao Kotla, Shahab Ahmad, Vindesh K. Dwivedi, and G. Vijaya Prakash Copyright © 2013 K. Pradeesh et al. All rights reserved. Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:39:55 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/737831/ Nanoparticles of mixed metal oxides, ZrO2, ZrTiO4, and ZrV2O7 were prepared by microwave-assisted citrate sol-gel and solution combustion method. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized for their structural details using XRD and TEM techniques. The broadening of Raman bands is ascribed to local compositional fluctuations or local positional disordering produced due to random distribution of Zr4+ and Ti4+between equivalent sites. The XPS spectra confirm the incorporation of Ti in ZrO2 and suggest Zr as well as Ti in +4 oxidation state. Gelation and fast combustion seem to be the reason for smaller particle sizes. ZrV2O7 nanocrystalline material was synthesized by microwave- assisted solution combustion method. Low angle powder XRD measurements confirm the mesoporous nature of the prepared material. The effect of calcination temperature on the phase transformation of the materials has been investigated. Among tetragonal, monoclinic, and cubic phases, the monoclinic phase is predominant at higher calcinations temperature. The XPS confirms the incorporation of V2O5 in ZrO2 and suggests that Zr and V are in the same oxidation state (+4). The average particle sizes for ZrO2, ZrTiO4, and ZrV2O7 were found to be in the ranges of 5–10 nm, 2–5 nm, and 10–50 nm, respectively. Akrati Verma, Reena Dwivedi, R. Prasad, and K. S. Bartwal Copyright © 2013 Akrati Verma et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:30:42 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/132180/ A series of PdNiB bimetallic nanoalloy catalysts with various Pd contents was prepared. Pd was well dispersed in NiB. Even adding a small amount of Pd in NiB had a significant effect on activity and selectivity in hydrogenation of p-chloronitrobenzene (p-CNB) to p-chloroaniline (p-CAN). High activity and selectivity on PdNiB could be attributed to both ensemble effect and electronic effect. The particle size in PdNiB decreased with an increase in Pd content. Electron-enriched Ni could activate the polar-NO2 groups of p-CNB and depress the dehalogenation of p-CAN. Yu-Wen Chen and Der-Shing Lee Copyright © 2013 Yu-Wen Chen and Der-Shing Lee. All rights reserved. Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:49:14 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/535901/ Progress and development in clinical diagnostics certainly focus upon the advances in the nanomaterials, particularly gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that offer promise to solve the biocompatible and sensitive detection systems. This paper focuses on the recent application of AuNPs in clinical diagnosis. Various important methods of AuNPs synthesis and their application in clinical detection of various biomolecules using electrochemical detection methods have been described. AuNPs alone and in various composites are also described based on the various biosensors design recently published for the detection of cancer biomarkers, proteins, bacteria, and cancer cells. The effect of AuNPs type and size in clinical detection has also been briefly illustrated. Pranjal Chandra, Jai Singh, Amardeep Singh, Ananya Srivastava, Rajendra N. Goyal, and Yoon Bo Shim Copyright © 2013 Pranjal Chandra et al. All rights reserved. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:24:52 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/682945/ Highly promising hybrid materials consisting of silica, titania, or zirconia nanoparticles linked with ionic liquid-like imidazolium units have been developed. The nanoparticle networks are prepared by click-chemistry-like process through a nucleophilic substitution reaction. The type of metal oxide nanoparticles appears to play a key role regarding the pore size of the hybrid material. Marie-Alexandra Neouze Gauthey, Marco Litschauer, Michael Puchberger, Martin Kronstein, and Herwig Peterlik Copyright © 2013 Marie-Alexandra Neouze Gauthey et al. All rights reserved. Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:53:34 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/384350/ Combustion method has been used as a fast and facile method to prepare nanocrystalline Co3O4 spinel employing sucrose as a combustion fuel. The products were characterized by thermal analyses (TGA and DTA), X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Experimental results revealed that the molar ratio of fuel/oxidizer (F/O) plays an important role in controlling the crystallite size of Co3O4 nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the crystallite size of Co3O4 nanocrystals was in the range of 13–32 nm. X-ray diffraction confirmed the formation of CoO phase with spinel Co3O4. The effect of calcination temperature on crystallite size and morphology has been, also, discussed. M. Th. Makhlouf, B. M. Abu-Zied, and T. H. Mansoure Copyright © 2013 M. Th. Makhlouf et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:26:50 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/936150/ Optical tracking methods are increasingly employed to characterize the size of nanoparticles in suspensions. However, the sufficient separation of different particle populations in polydisperse suspension is still difficult. In this work, Nanosight measurements of well-defined particle populations and Monte-Carlo simulations showed that the analysis of polydisperse particle dispersion could be improved with mathematical methods. Logarithmic transform of measured hydrodynamic diameters led to improved comparability between different modal values of multimodal size distributions. Furthermore, an automatic cluster analysis of transformed particle diameters could uncover otherwise hidden particle populations. In summary, the combination of logarithmically transformed hydrodynamic particle diameters with cluster analysis markedly improved the interpretability of multimodal particle size distributions as delivered by particle tracking measurements. Thorsten Wagner, Martin Wiemann, Inge Schmitz, and Hans-Gerd Lipinski Copyright © 2013 Thorsten Wagner et al. All rights reserved. Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:21:26 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/310809/ TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using microwave-assisted method. Synthesized NPs were characterized for their structure, morphology, and elemental composition using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The crystallite size of synthesized NPs of TiO2 and ZnO was about 12.3 and 18.7 nm as obtained from the Scherrer formula from the most intense XRD peak. The synthesized NPs have been found to be in stoichiometric ratio having anatase and hexagonal wurtzite structure for TiO2 and ZnO, respectively, and are spherical in shape. Surface area of TiO2 and ZnO NPs was found to be about 43.52 m2/g and 7.7 m2/g. Photocatalytic (PC) properties of synthesized NPs were studied for malachite green (MG) dye under UV light. TiO2 NPs were found to be highly photocatalytically active among the two, having efficiency and apparent photodegradation rate of 49.35% and , respectively. A. K. Singh and Umesh T. Nakate Copyright © 2013 A. K. Singh and Umesh T. Nakate. All rights reserved. Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:40:25 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/168916/ Metallic nanocomposites and nanotubes can be rapidly prepared under microwave irradiation (MW) from an aqueous solution of metallic precursors in the presence of trisodium citrate as a reductant. For the nanotubes nanoparticles are stabilized by poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP), a protecting agent. PVP is a typical capping and structure-directing agent used for the synthesis of various metallic nanostructures. In this work, we have demonstrated for the first time an MW irradiation approach for the synthesis of trimetallic nanocomposites and nanotubes. The resulting nanohybrids were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopic analysis, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis (EDX), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) techniques. B. Karthikeyan and B. Loganathan Copyright © 2013 B. Karthikeyan and B. Loganathan. All rights reserved. Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:46:47 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/274894/ ZnO nanostructures have been successfully prepared by a microwave irradiation method. The role of albumen as a template in addressing the size and morphology of ZnO has been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. A heterogeneous mixture of Zn(OH)2 and ZnO was obtained in absence of albumen. Pure ZnO nanostructures, consisting of rod- and whisker-like nanoparticles embedded in a sheet matrix, were obtained in the presence of albumen. Optical and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the synthesized samples were also compared. Results obtained indicate that the microwave-assisted method is a promising low temperature, cheap, and fast method for the production of ZnO nanostructures. T. Prakash, R. Jayaprakash, G. Neri, and Sanjay Kumar Copyright © 2013 T. Prakash et al. All rights reserved. Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:36:17 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/367812/ A surfactant/solid-template-free hydrothermal process has been developed for the synthesis of single-crystalline nanorods of bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) using triethanolamine as a complexing agent for the Bi3+ ions and elemental sulfur, solubilized in monoethanolamine, as the sulfur source. X-ray diffraction and morphological studies of a series of samples synthesized at different reaction conditions suggest that the growth of nanorods occurred at the expense of the low-crystalline spherical precursor particles of aminium compounds of bismuth sulfide or bismuth sulfate formed at room temperature. In the process, the reaction condition is optimized for obtaining crystalline nanorods of pure Bi2S3 with high aspect ratio. From the XRD, XPS, and HRTEM analysis of the samples, the growth of nanorods was assessed to be due to the cooperative effects of solid-solution-solid transformation and controlled oriented attachment. The hydrothermal process parameters and the presence of water in the reaction system have been found to play a crucial role in the formation of high aspect ratio nanorods. The optical band gap of the synthesized sample at optimized conditions is found to be 1.46 eV as calculated from its diffused reflectance spectrum at room temperature. Pravas Kumar Panigrahi and Amita Pathak Copyright © 2013 Pravas Kumar Panigrahi and Amita Pathak. All rights reserved. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 08:55:55 +0000 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nanoparticles/2013/783691/ The growth of uniformly distributed and densely packed array of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) and nanorods (NRs)/nanopolypods (NPPs) was successfully achieved through microwave-assisted chemical route at low temperature. The ZnO NRs and NRs/NPPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The ZnO NRs were of 100–150 nm diameter and 0.5–1 μm length, while the NPPs were of diameter about 150–200 nm and 1.5–2 μm pod length. The prepared films are polycrystalline in nature and highly oriented along (002) plane with a hexagonal wurtzite structure. These films were studied for the sensing properties of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), oxygen, and hazardous explosives, that is, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and cyclotrimethylenetrinitramines (RDX), in the temperature ranges of 25–425 °C and 100–200 °C, respectively. The grown nanostructure films showed reliable stable response to several on-off cycles, and reduction in sensor recovery time was found with the increase in temperature. ZnO NRs and NRs/NPPs showed better sensitivity and recovery time for both LPG and oxygen, as compared to the literature-reported results for ZnO thin films. A. K. Singh Copyright © 2013 A. K. Singh. All rights reserved.