Whiter, brighter, and more stable cellulose paper coated with antibacterial carboxymethyl starch stabilized ZnO nanoparticles.

Small, carboxymethyl-starch-stabilised zinc oxide nanoparticles with a defined shape, size and morphology were prepared in situ in water at relatively low reaction temperatures using soluble carboxymethyl starch (CMS) as a combined crystallising, stabilising and solubilising agent and triethanolamine as the reducing agent. Aqueous colloidal solutions of these CMS-stabilised ZnO nanoparticles were used to deposit a coating of ZnO nanoparticles on cellulose paper by a wet-chemistry, polyelectrolyte, layer-by-layer approach using water as the only solvent. Such cellulose paper samples, coated with these CMS-stabilised ZnO nanoparticles, show higher brightness and whiteness than that of blank reference paper and are more stable to UV-radiation than the paper reference as well as demonstrating good antibacterial activity against MRSA and A. baumannii.

Organometallic precursors of nano-objects, a critical view.

The synthesis of nanoparticles has experienced a huge development over the past 20 years. However, this development has remained relatively limited to a few classes of nanomaterials such as iron oxides, semi-conducting oxides, plasmonic nanoparticles (essentially Au) and quantum dots. In these cases, a physical chemistry approach and standard recipes allow a good control of the size and shape of the resulting nano-objects. However, organometallic precursors have emerged as an important class allowing the preparation of a large variety of nano-objects, concerning a large number of elements and displaying a clean and controllable surface and therefore good physical and chemical properties. This perspective article is mostly devoted to the research efforts carried out by our group on the search for new classes of precursors and on the importance of knowing their exact structure and the molecular chemistry involved prior to the fabrication of the nano-objects.

Superlattices of iron nanocubes synthesized from Fe[N(SiMe3)2]2.

The reaction of the metal-organic precursor Fe[N(SiMe3)2]2 with H2 in the presence of a long-chain acid and a long-chain amine in various proportions produces monodisperse zerovalent iron nanoparticles. These Fe particles display magnetic properties that match those of bulk iron as evidenced by magnetic and Mössbauer measurements. The nanoparticles adopt a cubic shape with edges of 7 nanometers and are incorporated into extended crystalline superlattices containing nanocubes in close proximity and with their crystallographic axes aligned. These superlattices are formed in solution, precipitate in high yield, and may be redissolved and redeposited as two-dimensional arrays.

Magnetic nanoparticles through organometallic synthesis: evolution of the magnetic properties from isolated nanoparticles to organised nanostructures.

Co and NiFe nanoparticles (2.7 to 3.3 nm mean diameter) of narrow size distribution have been obtained through the decomposition of organometallic precursors in organic solutions of long alkyl chain ligands, namely oleic acid and hexadecylamine. Materials of various volume fractions were produced. The particles have been structurally characterised by WAXS. Both adopt the bulk structure: HCP in the case of cobalt; a mixture of FCC and BCC for NiFe. Their aptitude to self-assemble either on flat supports or in bulk solid state has been investigated by means of TEM and SAXS. This study suggests the crystallisation of the nanoparticles upon solvent evaporation, especially a local FCC arrangement was observed for the NiFe material. Magnetic measurements (SQUID) confirm this tendency. The blocking temperature depends on the metal volume fraction, i.e. on the anisotropy generated by the dipolar couplings (Ki). We show that, for dense samples, the particles of high intrinsic anisotropy, Ku, (Co) still display an individual behaviour while the soft ones (NiFe) display a collective behaviour.

Dinuclear (Fe(II), Gd(III)) complexes deriving from hexadentate Schiff bases: synthesis, structure, and Mössbauer and magnetic properties.

The dinuclear (Fe(II), Gd(III)) complexes studied in this report derive from hexadentate Schiff base ligands abbreviated H(2)L(i)() (i = 1, 2, 3). H(2)L(1) = N,N'-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)-1,3-diamino-2,2'-dimethyl-propane, H(2)L(2) = N,N'-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)-1,2-diamino-2-methylpropane, and H(2)L(3) = N,N'-bis(3-methoxysalicylidene)-1,2-diaminoethane. The crystal and molecular structures of three complexes have been determined at 160 K. Depending on the solvent used in the preparation, L(1)Fe(CH(3)OH)Gd(NO(3))(3)(CH(3)OH)(2), 1, or L(1)Fe((CH(3))(2)CO)Gd(NO(3))(3), 1', is obtained from H(2)L(1). A similar complex, L(2)Fe((CH(3))(2)CO)Gd(NO(3))(3), 2, is obtained from H(2)L(2). Complex 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pca2(1) (No. 29): a = 22.141(3) A, b = 9.4159(16) A, c = 15.2075(17) A, V = 3170.4(7) A(3), Z = 4. Complexes 1' and 2 crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/c (No. 14): 1', a = 9.6264(17) A, b = 19.662(3) A, c = 16.039(3) A, beta = 95.15(2) degrees, V = 3023.6(9) A(3), Z = 4; 2, a = 9.7821(13) A, b = 18.7725(17) A, c = 16.100(2) A, beta = 96.497(16) degrees, V = 2937.5(6) A(3), Z = 4. Complexes 1, 1', and 2 possess an Fe(O(phenoxo))(2-)Gd core. The mononuclear L(3)Fe complex could be prepared from H(2)L(3) but not the related dinuclear (Fe, Gd) species. Mössbauer spectroscopy evidences that the iron center is in the +2 oxidation state for the six complexes. The experimental magnetic susceptibility and magnetization data of complexes 1, 1', and 2 indicate the occurrence of weak Fe(II)-Gd(III) ferromagnetic interactions. Single ion zero-field splitting of the iron(II) must be taken into account for satisfactorily fitting the data by exact calculation of the energy levels associated to the spin Hamiltonian through diagonalization of the full matrix for axial symmetry (1, J = 0.50 cm(-1), D = 2.06 cm(-1); 1', J = 0.41 cm(-1), D = 3.22 cm(-1); 2, J = 0.08 cm(-1), D = 4.43 cm(-1)).