Base and acid treatment of SWCNT-RNA transparent conductive films

Strontium Laminarin polysaccharide modulates osteogenesis-angiogenesis for bone regeneration

Bone regeneration and repair has become one of the major clinical challenges worldwide and it involves multiple processes including inflammation, angiogenesis and osteogenesis. In this study, we synthesized strontium Laminarin polysaccharide (LP-Sr), a novel polysaccharide-metal complex that should have therapeutic effects on modulating osteogenesis and angiogenesis. The structure and composition of the as-fabricated LP-Sr were analyzed by EDS, XRD, FITR, ¹H NMR, HPLC, etc. The results indicate that we successfully synthesized this novel polysaccharide complex. Moreover, we evaluated the biomedical potential of this complex in promoting osteogenesis and angiogenesis by cell proliferation assay, ALP staining, immunofluorescent staining of CD31 and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The biological experiment results show that LP-Sr can effectively promote proliferation and increase the expression of VEGF and EGFL6 in HUVECs and significantly up-regulate the expression of Col1α1 and OCN in MC3T3-E1. Besides, it is suggested that LP-Sr has positive effects on the suppression of pro-inflammatory factor IL6 in both HUVECs and MC3T3-E1. Moreover, the osteogenic and angiogenic markers, i.e. alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and CD31, exhibited high expression in LP-Sr group. Hence, we believe that LP-Sr should be a promising and novel polysaccharide complex in modulating osteogenesis-angiogenesis for bone regeneration.

De-bundled single-walled carbon nanotube-modified sensors for simultaneous differential pulse voltammetric determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid

De-bundled SWCNTs modified glassy carbon electrode for the simultaneous differential pulse voltammetric determination of ascorbic acid, dopamine, and uric acid.

Fabrication of durable and flexible single-walled carbon nanotube transparent conductive films

Highly flexible, durable, and transparent conducting films are fabricated from the de-bundled SWCNTs in aqueous solutions of SPES with high conductivity (125 Ω sq⁻¹) and good transmittance (87%) without adopting any binder or post treatment techniques.

Carbon Nanotubes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

As one type of emerging photovoltaic cell, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are an attractive potential source of renewable energy due to their eco-friendliness, ease of fabrication, and cost effectiveness. However, in DSSCs, the rarity and high cost of some electrode materials (transparent conducting oxide and platinum) and the inefficient performance caused by slow electron transport, poor light-harvesting efficiency, and significant charge recombination are critical issues. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising candidates to overcome these issues due to their unique electrical, optical, chemical, physical, as well as catalytic properties. This article provides a comprehensive review of the research that has focused on the application of CNTs and their hybrids in transparent conducting electrodes (TCEs), in semiconducting layers, and in counter electrodes of DSSCs. At the end of this review, some important research directions for the future use of CNTs in DSSCs are also provided.

1D copper nanostructures: progress, challenges and opportunities

One-dimensional noble metal nanostructures are important components in modern nanoscience and nanotechnology due to their unique optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. However, their cost and scalability may become a major bottleneck for real-world applications. Copper, being an earth-abundant metallic element, is an ideal candidate for commercial applications. It is critical to develop technologies to produce 1D copper nanostructures with high monodispersity, stability and oxygen-resistance for future low-cost nano-enabled materials and devices. This article covers comprehensively the current progress in 1D copper nanostructures, most predominantly nanorods and nanowires. First, various synthetic methodologies developed so far to generate 1D copper nanostructures are thoroughly described; the methodologies are in conjunction with the discussion of microscopic, spectrophotometric, crystallographic and morphological characterizations. Next, striking electrical, optical, mechanical and thermal properties of 1D copper nanostructures are highlighted. Additionally, the emerging applications of 1D copper nanostructures in flexible electronics, transparent electrodes, low cost solar cells, field emission devices are covered, amongst others. Finally, there is a brief discussion of the remaining challenges and opportunities.

Ultrathin optically transparent carbon electrodes produced from layers of adsorbed proteins

This work describes a simple, versatile, and inexpensive procedure to prepare optically transparent carbon electrodes, using proteins as precursors. Upon adsorption, the protein-coated substrates were pyrolyzed under reductive conditions (5% H2) to form ultrathin, conductive electrodes. Because proteins spontaneously adsorb to interfaces forming uniform layers, the proposed method does not require a precise control of the preparation conditions, specialized instrumentation, or expensive precursors. The resulting electrodes were characterized by a combination of electrochemical, optical, and spectroscopic means. As a proof-of-concept, the optically transparent electrodes were also used as substrate for the development of an electrochemical glucose biosensor. The proposed films represent a convenient alternative to more sophisticated, and less available, carbon-based nanomaterials. Furthermore, these films could be formed on a variety of substrates, without classical limitations of size or shape.

Holistic method for evaluating large area transparent conducting electrodes

Nowadays, specifying the quality of a transparent conducting electrode (TCE) using a figure of merit (FoM) is considered nearly mandatory. However, not much attention is paid to the local variations in the FoM itself across the large area of the TCE. This calls for the definition of a local FoM (LFoM), particularly relevant with regard to several new generation TCEs which have been and are being proposed recently. A LFoM based on local measurements of transmission and sheet resistance, pixel by pixel, would be a Herculean task. The present article addresses this central issue by defining a LFoM based on the diffraction efficiency (DE) of a calibrated high-resolution transmission grating overlaid with a given TCE. The DE value, which critically depends on the periodic nature of the grating material, is shown to be highly sensitive to the various nonuniformities in the TCE overlaid on the grating, with length scales comparable to the grating period. The effectiveness of the so-defined LFoM was demonstrated using a pointer laser and a photodiode in combination with a transmission grating with ∼μm periodicity by taking ITO/glass and ITO/PET as case examples. A metal grating pattern of Cu deposited on seed Pd grating lines was fabricated as an example of new generation TCE and examined for FoM and LFoM, however, without the aid of the external grating. The LFoM based on DE presented here should serve as an excellent screening method for both conventional and emerging TCEs.

Effective post treatment for preparing highly conductive carbon nanotube/reduced graphite oxide hybrid films

SWCNT-reduced graphite oxide hybrid films were prepared by a filtration method. An efficient post-treatment procedure was designed to reduce GO and remove dispersants simultaneously. The sheet resistance decreased significantly after treatment, by a factor of 4-13 times. Films with excellent performance (95.6%, 655 Ω per square) were obtained and had great potential applications.