Gelatin-Coated Magnetic Nanowires for High-Sensitivity Optical Labels.

The encapsulation of magnetic nickel nanowires (NiNWs) with gelatin is proposed as an alternative for optical label detection. Magnetic nanowires can be detected at very low concentrations using light-scattering methods. This detection capacity could be helpful in applications such as transducers for molecular and biomolecular sensors; however, potential applications require the attachment of specific binding molecules to the nanowire structure. In the present study, a method is presented which is helpful in coating magnetic nanowires with gelatin, a material with the potential to handle specific decoration and functionalization of the nanowires; in the first case, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are efficiently used to decorate the nanowires. Furthermore, it is shown that the synthesized gelatin-coated particles have excellent detectability to the level of 140 pg/mL; this level of detection outperforms more complex techniques such as ICP-OES (~3 ng/mL for Ni) and magnetoresistance sensing (~10 ng/mL for magnetic nanoparticles).

Experimental and theoretical study of dyes adsorption process on chitosan-based cryogel.

In this research, the adsorption of three synthetic dyes dissolved in an aqueous solution on chitosan cryogel beads (Q-C-EGDE) was compared. The effect of the pH of the solution on the adsorption capacity of each dyes was analyzed. Furthermore, the kinetics and adsorption isotherms were compared, at temperatures of 283.15 K, 303.15 K and 323.15 K, and the kinetic and adsorption equilibrium data were fitted to three mathematical models, respectively. The biosorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the nitrogen physisorption BET method and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The characterization results show that the cryogel is composed of low-surface, macroporous, porous grooved walls. The functional groups that took part in the adsorption were mainly amino groups (NH3+). When comparing the adsorption capacities, it was found that the dyes adsorb in the following order Blue 1 > Red 2 > Yellow 5 reaching capacities from 1600 mg/L to 850 mg/L. The results of the adsorption and mathematical modelling suggest that the process is regulated mainly by physisorption and is largely limited by mass transfer mechanisms within the cryogel, where the electrostatic charges present affect adsorption. The latter was corroborated by the Monte Carlo simulation.