Sonochemical Synthesis under a Magnetic Field: Fabrication of Nickel and Cobalt Particles and Variation of Their Physical Properties

Synthesis of Bioactive Nickel Nanoparticles Using Bacterial Strains from an Antarctic Consortium

Marine microorganisms have been demonstrated to be an important source for bioactive molecules. In this paper we report the synthesis of Ni nanoparticles (NiSNPs) used as reducing and capping agents for five bacterial strains isolated from an Antarctic marine consortium: Marinomonas sp. ef1, Rhodococcus sp. ef1, Pseudomonas sp. ef1, Brevundimonas sp. ef1, and Bacillus sp. ef1. The NiSNPs were characterized by Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis. The maximum absorbances in the UV-Vis spectra were in the range of 374 nm to 422 nm, corresponding to the Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Nickel. DLS revealed NiSNPs with sizes between 40 and 45 nm. All NiSNPs were polycrystalline with a face-centered cubic lattice, as revealed by XRD analyses. The NiSNPs zeta potential values were highly negative. TEM analysis showed that the NiSNPs were either spherical or rod shaped, well segregated, and with a size between 20 and 50 nm. The FTIR spectra revealed peaks of amino acid and protein binding to the NiSNPs. Finally, all the NiSNPs possess significant antimicrobial activity, which may play an important role in the management of infectious diseases affecting human health.

Investigation of Shear Strength and Microstructure Formation of Joined Ni Superalloys Using Ni Nanopastes

By using Ni nanoparticles, the bonding of Ni base superalloys can be achieved with shear strengths well above 200 MPa in a joining process at comparatively low temperatures between 675 °C and 975 °C. This is enabled due to the high surface-to-volume ratio of nanoparticles, which leads to distinctly lower melting and sintering temperatures than those of the corresponding bulk material. The nanoparticles in this study are employed in high-metal nanopastes, whereby different chemical compositions of the pastes and different sizes of Ni nanoparticles were investigated. The results for the joining of Ni base superalloys showed that both size and composition had a significant influence on the achievable strengths. In addition, an extensive examination was conducted to reveal the influence of the process parameters joining temperature, holding time and joining pressure on the shear strengths as well as microstructure. It was shown that the temperature exerted the most influence on the strengths and the microstructure. The joining pressure also had a significant influence. The holding time, on the other hand, did not have a major influence on the strengths and in some cases even showed an unexpected behavior, as the values decreased for some combinations with longer holding time.

Magnetic-field-induced synthesis of magnetic wire-like micro- and nanostructures

A lot of physical and chemical preparation methods of one-dimensional (1D) structures are known today. Most of them use highly advanced technology or quite complex chemical reagents. This results in their high costs and difficulties with their implementation to a large industrial scale. Hence, new, facile and inexpensive approaches are still sought. One alternative to wire-like structure production is based on the chemical reduction reactions combined with an external magnetic field, which acts as an independent synthesis parameter. This approach is commonly called magnetic-field-assisted (MFA) synthesis or magnetic-field-induced (MFI) synthesis. As usual, this manufacturing strategy comprises both drawbacks and advantages, which are introduced in this review. Moreover, this work shows that MFI synthesis depends on several synthesis parameters including the strength of the applied magnetic field, reaction temperature, pH value of the reaction environment, chemical composition of the precursor solution, reaction time, and also the presence of surfactants, complexing agents, nucleating agents, initiators as well as organic solvents. All of them have an impact on the morphology and dimensions of wire-like materials and their chemical, physical and mechanical properties. Finally, the opportunities and challenges associated with the magnetic-assisted fabrication of wire-like structures are widely discussed in this review.

High-intensity ultrasonication as a way to prepare graphene/amorphous iron oxyhydroxide hybrid electrode with high capacity in lithium battery

The preparation of graphene/iron oxyhydroxide hybrid electrode material with very homogeneous distribution and close contact of graphene and amorphous iron oxyhydroxide nanoparticles has been achieved by using high-intensity ultrasonication. Due to the negative charge of the graphene surface, iron ions are attracted toward the surface of dispersed graphene, according to the zeta potential measurements. The anchoring of the FeO(OH) particles to the graphene layers has been revealed by using mainly TEM, XPS and EPR. TEM observations show that the size of the iron oxide particles is about 4 nm. The ultrasonication treatment is the key parameter to achieve small particle size in these graphene/iron oxyhydroxide hybrid materials. The electrochemical behavior of composite graphene/amorphous iron oxyhydroxide prepared by using high-intensity ultrasonication is outstanding in terms of gravimetric capacity and cycling stability, particularly when metallic foam is used as both the substrate and current collector. The XRD-amorphous character of iron oxyhydroxide in the hybrid electrode material and the small particle size contribute to achieve the improved electrochemical performance.

Self-assembly mechanism of Ni nanowires prepared with an external magnetic field

Nickel nanowires with a mean diameter of about 95 nm and lengths of up to 26 μm were prepared by a chemical reduction method in aqueous solution under an external magnetic field. The self-assembly mechanism was investigated in detail. The results indicate that the self-assembly process of Ni nanowires consists of three stages: nucleation and growth, ordered alignment and self-assembly, and deposition on the surface and gaps between the nickel particles. The self-assembly phenomenon occurs only when nickel particles grow to a size of about 60 nm in the reaction system. This critical size, which is proposed for the first time, is very important to comprehend the self-assembly mechanism of Ni nanowires prepared with an external magnetic field.

Synthesis and assembly of nanomaterials under magnetic fields

Traditionally, magnetic field has long been regarded as an important means for studying the magnetic properties of materials. With the development of synthesis and assembly methods, magnetic field, similar to conventional reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, and surfactant, has been developed as a new parameter for synthesizing and assembling special structures. To date, magnetic fields have been widely employed for materials synthesis and assembly of one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) aggregates. In this review, we aim to provide a summary on the applications of magnetic fields in this area. Overall, the objectives of this review are: (1) to theoretically discuss several factors that refer to magnetic field effects (MFEs); (2) to review the magnetic-field-induced synthesis of nanomaterials; the 1D structure of various nanomaterials, such as metal oxides/sulfide, metals, alloys, and carbon, will be described in detail. Moreover, the MFEs on spin states of ions, magnetic domain and product phase distribution will be also involved; (3) to review the alignment of carbon nanotubes, assembly of magnetic nanomaterials and photonic crystals with the help of magnetic fields; and (4) to sketch the future opportunities that magnetic fields can face in the area of materials synthesis and assembly.

Nanocrystalline CoSn2-carbon composite electrode prepared by using sonochemistry

A sonochemical method has been used to prepare negative electrode materials containing intermetallic nanoparticles and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The ultrasound irradiation is applied to achieve small particle size. After annealing at 490 °C under Ar-flow, the polymer PAN is partially carbonized and the metallic nanoparticles are surrounded by a carbonaceous matrix. The main metallic phase is CoSn(2). The carbonaceous coating and the surface oxides have been explored by using XPS. The resulting CoSn(2)-carbonaceous phase electrode (CoSn(2)@C) shows improved electrochemical behavior (ca. 450 mAh/g after 50 cycles) in comparison with previous reports on pure crystalline CoSn(2). The reaction between CoSn(2)@C and Li has been studied by using XRD and (119)Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy. The formation of large grains of crystalline Li(x)Sn phases after the first discharge is discarded. The small particle size which is achieved by using ultrasonication and the carbonaceous matrix contribute to maintain the Co-Sn interactions during the electrochemical cycling. The aggregation of the nanosized metallic particles upon electrochemical cycling can be suppressed by the carbonaceous matrix (pyrolytic PAN).

Ligand-stabilized metal nanoparticles in organic solvent

This critical review reports the fundamental behavior of metal nanoparticles in different organic solvents, i.e., metal organosol. An overview on metal organosol and then their smart synthetic approaches, characterization, and potential applications in the fields of catalysis and spectroscopy with special emphasis on SERS are embodied. Aspects of organosol fabrication, stabilization, morphology control, growth mechanisms, and physical properties as mono- and bimetallic nanoparticles are discussed. The article inspires the repetitive usage of metal nanoparticles as stable deliverable organic and molecular compounds.

One-pot synthesis of gold nanorods by ultrasonic irradiation: the effect of pH on the shape of the gold nanorods and nanoparticles

A novel one-pot synthesis method to prepare gold nanorods was developed by using sonochemical reduction of gold ions in aqueous solution. The size of the sonochemically formed gold nanorods was less than 50 nm, and their average aspect ratio decreased with increasing pH of the solution. The aspect ratio measured was 3.0 at pH 3.5, 2.2 at pH 5.0, and 2.1 at pH 6.5. At pH 7.7, irregular shaped gold nanoparticles were formed. At pH 9.8, most of the particles formed had a spherical shape with a smaller particle size than those formed in the lower pH solutions. Based on the obtained results, it was clear that the size and shape of the sonochemically formed gold nanoparticles are dramatically dependent on the pH value of the solution.