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Titanium nitride (TiN) materials have gained an interest over the past years due to their unique characteristics, such as thermal stability, extreme hardness, low production cost, and comparable optical properties to gold. In the present study, TiN nanoparticles were synthesized via a thermal benzene route to obtain black nanoparticles. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out to examine the morphology. Further microscopic characterization was done where the final product was drop cast onto double-sided conductive carbon tape and sputter-coated with gold/palladium at a thickness of 4 nm for characterization by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) with energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS) that revealed they are spherical. ImageJ software was used to measure the average size of the particles to be 79 nm in diameter. EDS was used to determine the elements present in the sample and concluded that there were no impurities. Further characterization by Fourier Transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was carried out to identify the characteristic peaks of TiN. X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed typical peaks of cubic phase titanium nitride, and crystallite size was determined to be 14 nm using the Debye-Scherrer method. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis revealed the size distribution of the TiN nanoparticles, with nanoparticles averaging at 154 nm in diameter. Zeta potential concluded the surface of the TiN nanoparticles is negatively charged.
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Gold Decoration on Palladium Barley Stripe Mosaic Virus Biotemplate: Implications for Drug Delivery Applications
Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) is a promising biotemplate for the mineralization of metal–organic nanorods. Biomineralization of palladium occurs without an external reducing agent; however, the reduction of gold on wild-type BSMV requires a reducing agent. Recently, histidine has been adopted as a capping and reducing agent for the mineralization of gold nanoparticles. BSMV virus-like particles (BSMV-VLPs) tagged with histidine were investigated for direct gold deposition. However, gold nanoparticles were not formed during the mineralization process. Therefore, the aim of this research was to decorate gold nanoparticles onto palladium-coated BSMV (Pd-BSMV). The gold decoration was achieved through the addition of free histidine. X-ray absorption spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to verify the formation of metallic gold, and a kinetic study of the gold decoration process and the pH effect on the morphologies of gold particles was performed. The development of gold-decorated Pd-BSMV will be crucial for therapeutic applications, such as drug delivery, gene therapy, and photothermal therapy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2219276
- PAR ID:
- 10609801
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACS
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ACS Applied Nano Materials
- Volume:
- 8
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 2574-0970
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 5900 to 5907
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- biotemplate barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) gold nanoparticles biomineralization drug delivery
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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