Eugenia umbelliflora mediated reduction of silver nanoparticles incorporated into O-carboxymethylchitosan/y-Fe2O3: Synthesis, antimicrobial activity and toxicity.

The purpose of this study was to synthesize a new magnetic material with antimicrobial properties, incorporated into a biopolymer and containing silver nanoparticles (Ag NP) prepared extract of Eugenia umbelliflora as a reducing agent. Silver nanoparticles incorporated into magnetic nanocomposite O-carboxymethylchitosan/y-Fe2O3/Ag0 (CMAgE) composite were synthesized using an extract of E. umbelliflora. The antimicrobial activity of the pathogenic microorganism is reported here. The synthesized nanoparticles were also characterized, and quantified by Ag analysis. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of CMAgE against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans were 16.5, 1000 and 500 µg/mL, respectively. The results show that these materials have significant synergistic effect on each other. The potential phytotoxic effect of the nanocomposites was evaluated using Cucumis sativus seeds. The positive values for seedling elongation inhibition (SEI) show that CMAgE and methanol extract of Eugenia umbelliflora (Eug) cause growth inhibition at a concentration of 1000 mg/L. The germination index (GI) values of 40% and 80% at 1000 mg/L, for CMAgE and Eug, respectively, showed inhibition of germination. CMAgE and Eug showed cytotoxic effects against Artemia salina nauplii, with LC50 values of 72.5 µL/mL and < 5.0 µL/mL respectively, after 48 h.

Novel tetrahedral cobalt(ii) silanethiolates: structures and magnetism.

Three heteroleptic complexes of Co(ii) tri-tert-butoxysilanethiolates have been synthesized with piperidine [Co{SSi(OtBu)3}2(ppd)2] 1, piperazine [Co{SSi(OtBu)3}2(NH3)]2(µ-ppz)·2CH3CN 2, and N-ethylimidazole [Co{SSi(OtBu)3}2(etim)2] 3. The complexes have been characterized by a single-crystal X-ray, revealing their tetrahedral geometry on Co(ii) coordinated by two nitrogen and two sulfur atoms. Complexes 1 and 3 are mononuclear, whereas 2 is binuclear. The spectral properties and thermal properties of 1-3 complexes were established by FTIR spectroscopy for solid samples and TGA. The magnetic properties of complexes 1, 2, and 3 have been investigated by static magnetic measurements and X-band EPR spectroscopy. These studies have shown that 1 and 3, regardless of the similarity in structure of CoN2S2 cores, demonstrate different types of local magnetic anisotropy. Magnetic investigations of 2 reveal the presence of weak antiferromagnetic intra-molecular Co(ii)-Co(ii) interactions that are strongly influenced by the local magnetic anisotropy of individual Co(ii) ions.

Profound Interfacial Effects in CoFe2O4/Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/CoFe2O4 Core/Shell Nanoparticles.

Two sets of core/shell magnetic nanoparticles, CoFe2O4/Fe3O4 and Fe3O4/CoFe2O4, with a fixed diameter of the core (~ 4.1 and ~ 6.3 nm for the former and latter sets, respectively) and thickness of shells up to 2.5 nm were synthesized from metal chlorides in a diethylene glycol solution. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and magnetic measurements. The analysis of the results of magnetic measurements shows that coating of magnetic nanoparticles with the shells results in two simultaneous effects: first, it modifies the parameters of the core-shell interface, and second, it makes the particles acquire combined features of the core and the shell. The first effect becomes especially prominent when the parameters of core and shell strongly differ from each other. The results obtained are useful for optimizing and tailoring the parameters of core/shell spinel ferrite magnetic nanoparticles for their use in various technological and biomedical applications.

Synthesis of Ag@Fe2O3 nanocomposite based on O-carboxymethylchitosan with antimicrobial activity.

In this paper, nano-hybrid particles of Ag@Fe2O3 based on O-carboxymethylchitosan were successfully synthesized using different reducing agents (NaBH4, sucrose) and without reducing agent. The smallest silver nanoparticles were those prepared without reducing agent (∼5±3nm). The average size of silver particles prepared with NaBH4 is around 5-15nm, and for samples prepared with sucrose, the average particle size is 10-25nm. The magnetization curves are roughly reversible, indicating that γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles transit to a superparamagnetic state. Nanocomposites subjected to antimicrobial tests showed great antimicrobial activity against gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria, and good activity against the yeast Candida albicans and resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. The antibacterial behavior as a function of time was investigated in microbial growth kinetics, and the best nanocomposite was the one without reducing agent, which completely inhibited microbial growth for 48h.

Structural and magnetic properties of iron nanowires and iron nanoparticles fabricated through a reduction reaction.

The main goal of this work is to study the structural and magnetic properties of iron nanowires and iron nanoparticles, which have been fabricated in almost the same processes. The only difference in the synthesis is an application of an external magnetic field in order to form the iron nanowires. Both nanomaterials have been examined by means of transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry and Mössbauer spectrometry to determine their structures. Structural investigations confirm that obtained iron nanowires as well as nanoparticles reveal core-shell structures and they are composed of crystalline iron cores that are covered by amorphous or highly defected phases of iron and iron oxides. Magnetic properties have been measured using a vibrating sample magnetometer. The obtained values of coercivity, remanent magnetization, saturation magnetization as well as Curie temperature differ for both studied nanostructures. Higher values of magnetizations are observed for iron nanowires. At the same time, coercivity and Curie temperature are higher for iron nanoparticles.

Supramolecular control over molecular magnetic materials: γ-cyclodextrin-templated grid of cobalt(II) single-ion magnets.

Single-ion magnets (SIMs) are potential building blocks of novel quantum computing devices. Unique magnetic properties of SIMs require effective separation of magnetic ions and can be tuned by even slight changes in their coordination sphere geometry. We show that an additional level of tailorability in the design of SIMs can be achieved by organizing magnetic ions into supramolecular architectures, resulting in gaining control over magnetic ion packing. Here, γ-cyclodextrin was used to template magnetic Co(II) and nonmagnetic auxiliary Li(+) ions to form a heterometallic {Co, Li, Li}4 ring. In the sandwich-type complex [(γ-CD)2Co4Li8(H2O)12] spatially separated Co(II) ions are prevented from superexchange magnetic coupling. Ac/dc magnetic and EPR studies demonstrated that individual Co(II) ions with positive zero-field splitting exhibit field-induced slow magnetic relaxation consistent with the SIMs' behavior, which is exceptional in complexes with easy-plane magnetic anisotropy.

Efficient synthesis of manganese(II) carboxylates: from a trinuclear cluster [Mn3(PhCO2)6(THF)4] to a unique [Mn(PhCO2)2]n chiral 3D network.

An efficient synthetic procedure for obtaining manganese carboxylates including a trinuclear cluster [Mn3(PhCO2)6(THF)4]2 and a unique [Mn(PhCO2)2]n chiral 3D network is reported. The procedure involves a simple redox process, in which acidic protons are reduced to gaseous hydrogen by oxidizing metallic manganese under solvothermal conditions.