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    Time-resolved study of site-specific corrosion in a single crystalline silver nanoparticle
    (Berlin : SpringerOpen, 2019) Trautmann, Steffen; Dathe, André; Csáki, Andrea; Thiele, Matthias; Müller, Robert; Fritzsche, Wolfgang; Stranik, Ondrej
    We followed over 24 h a corrosion process in monocrystalline triangular-shaped nanoparticles at a single-particle level by atomic force microscopy and optical spectroscopy techniques under ambient laboratory conditions. The triangular-shaped form of the particles was selected, because the crystallographic orientation of the particles is well defined upon their deposition on a substrate. We observed that the particles already start to alter within this time frame. Surprisingly, the corrosion starts predominantly from the tips of the particles and it creates within few hours large protrusions, which strongly suppress the plasmon character of the particles. These observations support the crystallographic model of these particles consisting of a high-defect hexagonal closed packed layer, and they could help material scientists to design more stable silver nanoparticles. Moreover, this described technique can be used to reveal kinetics of the corrosion in the nanoscale of other materials.
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    Stabilizing silica nanoparticles in hydrogels: impact on storage and polydispersity
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2017) Giovannini, Giorgia; Kunc, Filip; Piras, Carmen C.; Stranik, Ondrej; Edwards, Alison A.; Hall, Andrew J.; Gubala, Vladimir
    For successful nanomedicine, it is important that the unique, size-dependent physico-chemical properties of the nanomaterial remain predictably constant during both the storage and the manipulation of the material. Here a novel approach to preserve the colloidal stability and degradation of NPs is described. The concept is simple: (a) a solution of monodisperse particles is formulated into a responsive water- or PBS-based hydrogel; (b) the gel can be reversibly turned into a solution after long term storage by shaking it by hand; (c) the NP can be diluted and used in any desired application without the need for excessive manipulation. The differences between the physico-chemical properties of NPs stored in solution and in gel are compared. Two types of NPs were involved in this study: silica NPs of ∼100 nm and Au-NPs of 30 and 80 nm in diameter. The key findings are: the fibrous matrix of the hydrogel limits the NP mobility, significantly reduces NP aggregation and conserves the NP morphology; both the hydrogelator and the NPs show negligible toxicity towards the model U937 human hematopoietic cell line; undesired leaching of cargo material loaded inside the particles is reduced, which could be an important feature for drug delivery systems.