CH – Page 2 – TechConnect Briefs

Antioxidant and Antiradical SiO2 Nanoparticles Covalently Functionalized with Gallic Acid

Sotiriou G.A., Deligiannakis Y., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Gallic acid (GA) and its derivatives are natural polyphenolic substances widely used as antioxidants in nutrients, medicine and polymers. Here, nanoantioxidant materials are engineered by covalently grafting GA on SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). A proof-of-concept is [...]

Self-assembled Magnetic Silica Nano-rods and Micro-platelets as smart reinforcements for polymer-composites

Furlan M., Lattuada M., University of Fribourg, CH

In this work, we propose a new versatile self-assembly technique to obtain large quantities of silica-based magnetic nano and micro-rods and of magnetic microplatelets, which can be easily oriented by weak magnetic fields. Our process [...]

Multifunctional plasmonic nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Sotiriou G.A., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Plasmonic nanoparticles play an important role in biomedical applications today as they can serve as superior optically-stable bioimaging agents, be employed in biosensor devices for the early diagnosis of diseases, and exhibit promising results for [...]

Membrane-Particle Interactions in Asymmetric Flow Field Flow Fractionation (A4F) – The Influence of the ζ-Potential

Losert S., Hungerbühler K., Bendixen N., Ulrich A., EMPA, CH

Asymmetric flow field flow fractionation is a powerful and promising technique for the separation of nanoparticles. In combination with UV/Vis detection, multi-angle light scattering and coupled to ICP-MS it is a fast and quantitative analytical [...]

Cytotoxicity of silver nanoparticles

Sotiriou G.A., Pratsinis A., Pratsinis S.E., Leroux J.-C., Pratsinis A., Pratsinis S.E., Particle Technology Laboratory, ETH Zürich, CH

Silver nanoparticles are receiving more and more attention for their plasmonic colors and their antibacterial effects [1]. The addition of a nanothin SiO2 shell minimizes the release of toxic Ag ions and the contact of [...]

Quantifying the origin of nanosilver ions and their antibacterial activity

Sotiriou G.A., Meyer A., Knijnenburg J., Panke S., Pratsinis S.E., Particle Technology Laboratory, ETH Zürich, CH

Nanosilver is prominent in nanotechnology products [1]. Concerns however about leached Ag ions from its surface into aquatic environments have challenged its broad use. The origin of these ions is explored here by conditioning the [...]

Unravelling adsorption and alignment of amyloid fibrils at interfaces by probe particle tracking

Isa L., Jung J-M, Mezzenga R., Jordens S, ETH Zürich, CH

We report the first direct, non-invasive experimental evidence of a 2D isotropic–nematic transition for highly anisotropic nanoparticles at liquid–liquid interfaces by using passive fluorescent particle tracking. In order to illustrate the potential of this approach [...]

Breath acetone monitoring by portable Si:WO3 gas sensors

Righettoni M., Tricoli A., Gass S., Schmid A., Amann A., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Breath analysis has the potential for early stage detection and monitoring of illnesses to drastically reduce the corresponding medical diagnostic costs. In particular, the detection of acetone in the human breath is promising for non-invasive [...]

Design Methodology for Ultra Low-Power Analog Circuits using Next Generation BSIM 6 Compact Model

Enz C.C., Mangla A., Chalkiadaki M.-A., Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH

The design of analog circuits strongly relies on the accuracy of the models available in the circuit simulators. The recently proposed BSIM6 bulk MOSFET compact model is set to replace the hitherto widely used BSIM3 [...]

The Structure of Agglomerates consisting of Polydisperse Particles

Eggersdorfer M.L., Pratsinis S.E., ETH Zürich, CH

Agglomeration is encountered in many natural or industrial processes, like growth of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, material synthesis by aerosol processes or even colloidal particles. These particles collide by different mechanisms and stick together [...]