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Nanomaterials
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Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging
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Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Nanoscience and Nanotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 23285

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Haifei Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Interests: porous materials; nanostructured materials; organic nanoparticles; water treatment; bioimaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Water pollution is a serious global issue that has been worsened at an alarming rate. It has considerably affected quality of life, caused fatal disease, and sometimes brought about disastrous ecological impacts. Water remediation is one of the approaches being taken to address the water pollution issue. A variety of methods have been developed for water remediation. Among them, the use of nanostructured materials and nanocomposites for adsorption, degradation, filtration, or other suitable mechanisms has been found highly efficient and promising.

Bioimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluorescence imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) are essential for identifying abnormality/tumor growth, monitoring the distribution of therapeutic agents, guiding therapy, and evaluating the efficiency of treatment for diseases including cancer and other currently noncurable diseases. The design and use of nanomaterials as probes for noninvasive bioimaging techniques have been intensively investigated to improve imaging resolution and imaging depth.

This Special Issue of Nanomaterials will cover the use of nanostructured materials and polymer nanocomposites for water remediation and bioimaging. Some nanomaterials, e.g., iron oxide nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, nanodiamonds, and conjugated polymer/semiconducting polymer nanoparticles, have been used for both water remediation and bioimaging, while other nanostructured materials may be suitable for only one of these applications.

Dr. Haifei Zhang
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

  • nanoparticles
  • nanomaterials
  • polymer nanocomposites
  • water remediation
  • adsorption
  • degradation
  • bioimaging
  • non-invasive

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 13465 KiB  
Article
Silica Microspheres-in-Pores Composite Monoliths with Fluorescence and Potential for Water Remediation
by Adham Ahmed, Peter Myers and Haifei Zhang
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(10), 2681; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11102681 - 12 Oct 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2026
Abstract
Water pollution is a severe worldwide issue. Constructing advanced porous composite materials has been an efficient route to water remediation via adsorption. In this study, a unique microspheres-in-pores monolithic structure was fabricated. An emulsion-templated polymer monolith was first prepared and silica microspheres were [...] Read more.
Water pollution is a severe worldwide issue. Constructing advanced porous composite materials has been an efficient route to water remediation via adsorption. In this study, a unique microspheres-in-pores monolithic structure was fabricated. An emulsion-templated polymer monolith was first prepared and silica microspheres were subsequently formed in the porous polymer. A silica precursor was modified with a fluorescent dye and co-condensed with other precursors to fabricate porous composites with fluorescent properties, which were enhanced by the presence of Ag nanoparticles in the polymer matrix. This unique material showed good promise in water remediation by removing organic dyes and heavy metal ions from wastewater via a flowing filter or monolithic column separation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging)
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21 pages, 21823 KiB  
Article
Nanocomposite PLA/C20A Nanoclay by Ultrasound-Assisted Melt Extrusion for Adsorption of Uremic Toxins and Methylene Blue Dye
by M. Andrade-Guel, C. Cabello-Alvarado, R. L. Romero-Huitzil, O. S. Rodríguez-Fernández, C. A. Ávila-Orta, G. Cadenas-Pliego, D. I. Medellín-Banda, C. Gallardo-Vega and J. Cepeda-Garza
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(10), 2477; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11102477 - 23 Sep 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2827
Abstract
Design of functional materials it is of great importance to address important problems in the areas of health and environment. In the present work, the synthesis and application of poly-meric nanocomposite materials with poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and modified nanoclay (cloisite 20A) with [...] Read more.
Design of functional materials it is of great importance to address important problems in the areas of health and environment. In the present work, the synthesis and application of poly-meric nanocomposite materials with poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and modified nanoclay (cloisite 20A) with 1,4-diaminobutane dihydrochloride at different reaction times were studied. The concentra-tions of the nanoclays in the PLA matrix were 0.5, 1 and, 5% by weight (wt%). TGA showed that sample C20AM 120 (120 min of treatment) obtained the highest degree of modification considering the weight losses of the analyzed samples. An FT-IR signal at 1443 cm−1 suggests that the organic modifier is intercalated between the galleries of the clay. XRD, SEM and XPS suggest good disper-sion at low concentrations of the nanoclay. Adsorption tests revealed that the highest percentage of removal of uremic toxins and methylene blue was the sample with 5% wt/wt chemically modified nanoclay, suggesting good affinity between the modified nanoclays in the PLA matrix with the nitrogenous compounds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging)
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21 pages, 4362 KiB  
Article
Design and Characterization of a Novel ZnO–Ag/Polypyrrole Core–Shell Nanocomposite for Water Bioremediation
by Fatma Mohamed, Abeer Enaiet Allah, Khulood A. Abu Al-Ola and Mohamed Shaban
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(7), 1688; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071688 - 28 Jun 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2597
Abstract
Incorporating nanostructured metal and metal oxide in a polymer matrix is a strategic way to develop a novel candidate for water bioremediation. In this study, under microwave irradiation, a ZnO–Ag/polypyrrole (PPy) nanocomposite with a core/shell structure was prepared by interfacial polymerization of pyrrole [...] Read more.
Incorporating nanostructured metal and metal oxide in a polymer matrix is a strategic way to develop a novel candidate for water bioremediation. In this study, under microwave irradiation, a ZnO–Ag/polypyrrole (PPy) nanocomposite with a core/shell structure was prepared by interfacial polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of ZnO nanoparticles and AgNO3 as an oxidant. The antimicrobial behavior of the ZnO–Ag core combined with the electrical properties of the conducting PPy shell created a special ZnO–Ag/PPy nanocomposite with inherent adsorption behavior and antimicrobial properties. More impressively, the as-prepared ZnO–Ag/PPy displayed enhanced adsorption of Cd2+ and PO43− ions in the mixed solution. At pH 8, it had overall removal efficiencies of 95% and 75% for Cd2+and PO43− ions, respectively. The Freundlich adsorption model, rather than the Langmuir adsorption model, better fits the adsorption isotherm results. The adsorption kinetics also followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Additionally, the engineered nanocomposite demonstrated antifungal activity against different fungi, as well as remarkable antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The synergistic combination of crystallinity, coherence of the ZnO–Ag core in the PPy matrix, and the negative zeta potential all contribute to this nanocomposite’s high efficiency. Our results have significant consequences in the wastewater bioremediation field using a simple operation process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging)
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Review

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55 pages, 17244 KiB  
Review
Carbon Dots: Classification, Properties, Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications in Health Care—An Updated Review (2018–2021)
by Bhargav D. Mansuriya and Zeynep Altintas
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(10), 2525; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11102525 - 27 Sep 2021
Cited by 124 | Viewed by 15007
Abstract
Carbon dots (CDs) are usually smaller than 10 nm in size, and are meticulously formulated and recently introduced nanomaterials, among the other types of carbon-based nanomaterials. They have gained significant attention and an incredible interest in the field of nanotechnology and biomedical science, [...] Read more.
Carbon dots (CDs) are usually smaller than 10 nm in size, and are meticulously formulated and recently introduced nanomaterials, among the other types of carbon-based nanomaterials. They have gained significant attention and an incredible interest in the field of nanotechnology and biomedical science, which is merely due to their considerable and exclusive attributes; including their enhanced electron transferability, photobleaching and photo-blinking effects, high photoluminescent quantum yield, fluorescence property, resistance to photo-decomposition, increased electrocatalytic activity, good aqueous solubility, excellent biocompatibility, long-term chemical stability, cost-effectiveness, negligible toxicity, and acquaintance of large effective surface area-to-volume ratio. CDs can be readily functionalized owing to the abundant functional groups on their surfaces, and they also exhibit remarkable sensing features such as specific, selective, and multiplex detectability. In addition, the physico-chemical characteristics of CDs can be easily tunable based on their intended usage or application. In this comprehensive review article, we mainly discuss the classification of CDs, their ideal properties, their general synthesis approaches, and primary characterization techniques. More importantly, we update the readers about the recent trends of CDs in health care applications (viz., their substantial and prominent role in the area of electrochemical and optical biosensing, bioimaging, drug/gene delivery, as well as in photodynamic/photothermal therapy). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanostructured Materials and Polymer Nanocomposites for Environmental Remediation and Bioimaging)
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