Self-oriented Ag-based polycrystalline cubic nanostructures through polymer stabilization.

This paper presents the study of the dynamics of the formation of polymer-assisted highly-orientated polycrystalline cubic structures (CS) by a fractal-mediated mechanism. This mechanism involves the formation of seed Ag@Co nanoparticles by InterMatrix Synthesis and subsequent overgrowth after incubation at a low temperature in chloride and phosphate solutions. These ions promote the dissolution and recrystallization in an ordered configuration of pre-synthetized nanoparticles initially embedded in negatively-charged polymeric matrices. During recrystallization, silver ions aggregate in AgCl@Co fractal-like structures, then evolve into regular polycrystalline solid nanostructures (e.g. CS) in a single crystallization step on specific regions of the ion exchange resin (IER) which maintain the integrity of polycrystalline nanocubes. Here, we study the essential role of the IER in the formation of these CS for the maintenance of their integrity and stability. Thus, this synthesis protocol may be easily expanded to the composition of other nanoparticles providing an interesting, cheap and simple alternative for cubic structure formation and isolation.

Uncommon patterns in Nafion films loaded with silver nanoparticles.

Nafion has been frequently used for the synthesis of nanoparticles by taking advantage of its so-called cluster-network structure. Unexpectedly, the synthesis of AgNPs inside Nafion 117 was found to produce NPs organization, resulting in a regular pattern that could reveal the real morphology of the polymer.

Morphological changes of gel-type functional polymers after intermatrix synthesis of polymer stabilized silver nanoparticles.

This paper reports the results of intermatrix synthesis (IMS) of silver metal nanoparticles (Ag-MNPs) in Purolite C100E sulfonic ion exchange polymer of the gel-type structure. It has been shown that the surface morphology of the initial MNP-free polymer is absolutely smooth, but it dramatically changes after the kinetic loading of Ag on the polymer and then IMS of Ag-MNPs. These morphological changes can be explained by the interaction of Ag-NPs with the polymer chains, leading to a sort of additional cross-linking of the polymer. As a result, the modification of the gel-type matrix with Ag-MNPs leads to the increase of the matrix cross-linking, which results in the increase of its surface area and the appearance of nanoporosity in the polymer gel. Ag-MNPs are located near the polymer surface and do not form any visible agglomerations. All these features of the nanocomposites obtained are important for their practical applications in catalysis, sensor applications, and bactericide water treatment.

Characterization of fibrous polymer silver/cobalt nanocomposite with enhanced bactericide activity.

This manuscript describes the synthesis (based on the intermatrix synthesis (IMS) method), optimization, and application to bacterial disinfection of Ag@Co polymer-metal nanocomposite materials with magnetic and bactericidal properties. This material showed ideal bactericide features for being applied to bacterial disinfection of water, particularly (1) an enhanced bactericidal activity (when compared with other nanocomposites only containing Ag or Co nanoparticles), with a cell viability close to 0% for bacterial suspensions with an initial concentration below 10(5) colony forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) after a single pass through the material, (2) capacity of killing a wide range of bacterial types (from coliforms to gram-positive bacteria), and (3) a long performance-time, with an efficiency of 100% (0% viability) up to 1 h of operation and higher than 90% during the first 24 h of continuous operation. The nanocomposite also showed a good performance when applied to water samples from natural sources with more complex matrices with efficiencies always higher than 80%.

Environmentally-safe bimetallic Ag@Co magnetic nanocomposites with antimicrobial activity.

In this communication we describe the synthesis, characterization and evaluation of the bactericide activity of a superparamagnetic bimetallic Ag/Co polymeric nanocomposite material for the treatment of bacteria contaminated aqueous solutions.

Intermatrix synthesis: easy technique permitting preparation of polymer-stabilized nanoparticles with desired composition and structure.

The synthesis of polymer-stabilized nanoparticles (PSNPs) can be successfully carried out using intermatrix synthesis (IMS) technique, which consists in sequential loading of the functional groups of a polymer with the desired metal ions followed by nanoparticles (NPs) formation stage. After each metal-loading-NPs-formation cycle, the functional groups of the polymer appear to be regenerated. This allows for repeating the cycles to increase the NPs content or to obtain NPs with different structures and compositions (e.g. core-shell or core-sandwich). This article reports the results on the further development of the IMS technique. The formation of NPs has been shown to proceed by not only the metal reduction reaction (e.g. Cu0-NPs) but also by the precipitation reaction resulting in the IMS of PSNPs of metal salts (e.g. CuS-NPs).

Polymer-stabilized palladium nanoparticles for catalytic membranes: ad hoc polymer fabrication.

Metal nanoparticles are known as highly effective catalysts although their immobilization on solid supports is frequently required to prevent aggregation and to facilitate the catalyst application, recovery, and reuse. This paper reports the intermatrix synthesis of Pd0 nanoparticles in sulfonated polyethersulfone with Cardo group membranes and their use as nanocomposite catalytic membrane reactors. The synthesized polymer and the corresponding nanocomposite were characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. The catalytic efficiency of catalytic membranes was evaluated by following the reduction of p-nitrophenol in the presence of NaBH4.

Intermatrix synthesis of polymer stabilized inorganic nanocatalyst with maximum accessibility for reactants.

In this paper we report a comparative study of different procedures for the inter-matrix synthesis (IMS) of monometallic Pd-Polymer-Stabilized Metal NanoParticles (PSMNPs) in sulfonated polyetherether ketone (SPEEK) as stabilizing polymeric matrix. The IMS technique consists in consecutive metal loading-reduction cycles and can be realized by using two different versions: (i) in situ and (ii) ex situ. For in situ IMS the bare polymeric material is first deposited onto the electrode surface followed by metal loading and reduction. The last step (reduction of metal ions to PSMNPs) can be done either chemically or electrochemically. Pd-PSMNPs were synthesized by varying both the Pd concentration in the loading solution and the IMS procedure. MNPs were characterized by TEM, XRD, ICP-OES and EDS techniques and the main differences found are related to MNPs size and their spatial distribution inside the polymeric matrix. The catalytic activity of Pd-PSMNPs synthesized by different versions of the IMS technique was evaluated by using PSMNPs modified electrodes as amperometric sensors.

Donnan-exclusion-driven distribution of catalytic ferromagnetic nanoparticles synthesized in polymeric fibers.

One of the routes to overcome the high instability of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) lies in the use of polymeric materials for their synthesis and stabilization. Besides, one of the most serious concerns associated with the growing production and use of MNPs is the possibility of their uncontrollable escape into the medium under treatment and the environment. A possible solution to this problem could be the synthesis of ferromagnetic MNPs with desired functionality, that might not only prevent their escape by using simple magnetic traps but also allow their recovery and reuse. In our work we report the results obtained by the development of environmentally-safe polymer-metal nanocomposite materials containing polymer-stabilized MNPs (PSMNPs) with properties. This material consists of a functional polymer with immobilized Pd@Co core-shell PSMNPs distributed mainly near the surface of the polymer which makes PSMNPs maximally accessible for reagents in catalytic applications. The material was characterized by different techniques to evaluate the total metal content, the size and the magnetic properties of MNPs and their distribution inside the polymer. All nanocomposites were tested as catalysts in Suzuki cross-coupling reactions between arylboronic acids and aryl halides to produce biphenyls as a reference reaction.