Computational Chemistry in Bionanotechnology

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Biology and Medicines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2024) | Viewed by 682

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Science and Engineering of Materials, Environment and Urban Planning, Polytechnic University of Marche, 60121 Ancona, Italy
Interests: ab initio simulations on 2D and 3D solid, organic, and inorganic systems; semi-empirical atomistic simulations on multi-component devices; simulations of molecular dynamics on synthetic and natural systems, both ordered and amorphous; use of electron paramagnetic resonance for the study of free radicals and antioxidant effects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The application of computational chemistry in the field of bionanotechnology has expanded in recent years with significant developments in computer software and hardware, together with equally evident developments in computational methodologies. Computational chemistry techniques provide information regarding systems at the atomic level, allowing the data obtained to be rationalized experimentally and future experiments to be guided by predicting new characteristics and behaviors. Computational chemistry techniques range from first-principle approaches, such as ab initio methods and density functional theory (DFT), which are based on quantum chemistry, to semi-empirical methods, such as density functional tight binding (DFTB), which facilitate simulations using pre-fitted parameters, to molecular mechanics (MM) and molecular dynamics (MD) calculations, which are based on approximate classical potentials.

The recent combination of nanotechnology and biology has led to the development of vital systems, both in biology and in nanoengineered materials. Bionanotechnology is today an established and cutting-edge interdisciplinary research area that is located at the interface between chemistry, physics, biology, materials science, engineering, and medicine, and that finds application in numerous technological fields. Biological systems are essential in nanotechnology in terms of achieving biocompatibility and processes that are not dangerous to health; furthermore, many new applications are being developed by mimicking natural systems.

The purpose of this Special Issue, entitled “Computational Chemistry in Bionanotechnology”, is to focus on the biomedical, food, agricultural, energy, and environmental fields. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Bionanotechnology in plants and agriculture;
  • Biosensors;
  • Bionanotechnologies in medicines;
  • Biomimetic coatings;
  • Conductive systems;
  • Drug delivery;
  • Emerging technologies on the nano and microscale;
  • Polymeric coatings for any use;
  • Photonic materials;
  • Smart medical materials and antimicrobial coatings;
  • Water treatment based on Bionanotechnologies.

Dr. Emiliano Laudadio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bionanotechnology
  • polymer
  • device
  • coating
  • nanoparticle
  • drug delivery
  • macromolecule
  • computation
  • chemistry
  • simulation

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

15 pages, 2755 KiB  
Article
Adsorption of Polylactic-co-Glycolic Acid on Zinc Oxide Systems: A Computational Approach to Describe Surface Phenomena
by Elaheh Mohebbi, Eleonora Pavoni, Cristina Minnelli, Roberta Galeazzi, Giovanna Mobbili, Simona Sabbatini, Pierluigi Stipa, Mir Masoud Seyyed Fakhrabadi and Emiliano Laudadio
Nanomaterials 2024, 14(8), 687; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano14080687 - 16 Apr 2024
Viewed by 474
Abstract
Zinc oxide and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (ZnO-PLGA) nanocomposites are known to exhibit different biomedical applications and antibacterial activity, which could be beneficial for adding to wound dressings after different surgeries. However, possible cytotoxic effects along with various unexpected activities could reduce the use of [...] Read more.
Zinc oxide and polylactic-co-glycolic acid (ZnO-PLGA) nanocomposites are known to exhibit different biomedical applications and antibacterial activity, which could be beneficial for adding to wound dressings after different surgeries. However, possible cytotoxic effects along with various unexpected activities could reduce the use of these prominent systems. This is correlated to the property of ZnO, which exhibits different polymeric forms, in particular, wurtzite, zinc-blende, and rocksalt. In this study, we propose a computational approach based on the density functional theory to investigate the properties of ZnO-PLGA systems in detail. First, three different stable polymorphs of ZnO were considered. Subsequently, the abilities of each system to absorb the PLGA copolymer were thoroughly investigated, taking into account the modulation of electrical, optical, and mechanical properties. Significant differences between ZnO and PLGA systems have been found; in this study, we remark on the potential use of these models and the necessity to describe crucial surface aspects that might be challenging to observe with experimental approaches but which can modulate the performance of nanocomposites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Computational Chemistry in Bionanotechnology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop