Nanoscience & Nanotechnology-Asia - Volume 12, Issue 4, 2022

Nanoparticles have a wide range of responsive reactions in bacterial cells depending on their characteristics. They interact with organisms at a cellular level and are capable of producing unexpected reactions depending on their own and cell’s morphological features. Some functions provide betterment of cells and some cause disruptions in the cell functioning or exhibit toxicity for them. Nanoparticles, depending on their toxicity, can also cause alterations in cellular physiology. Different nanoparticles affect different biological species in different ways. As a result, a comprehensive investigation is necessary for all types of nanoparticles to demonstrate their beneficial and harmful effects on various species in terms of growth, inhibition, toxicity, and death. In this review, we have only focused on the iron nanoparticle and their effects on bacterial cells as they are the most commonly used nanoparticle in biology and microbiology because of their unique physicochemical properties (size, shape, stability, etc.). These properties of NPs allow them to react with the bacterial cell surfaces and create a response (which can either support the growth of the bacteria or cause an anti-bacterial or anti-microbial effect on them). These properties are also changeable if we alter the morphological features of the NPs. Studies have shown improvement in microbiological reaction rates by using magnetic nanoparticles. However, nanoparticle toxicity is the major area of concern, as it can decrease therapeutic efficiency and cause adverse effects. Considering the wide range of responses and their reasons, this review summarizes the effects an iron oxide nanoparticle can have on the bacterial cell in general, the factors that influence those effects, and the relation of NP's characteristics to their significant differences in effects on bacteria.

The heightened attention to food and health safety has prompted researchers to conduct extensive research on biosensors that quickly detect foodborne microbial toxins and pathogens. Biosensors are a blessing due to their simple, cost-effective technique, but there are still some drawbacks with detection time, detection limit, and resilience. Incorporating functionalized nanomaterials into developing biosensors as catalytic tools, immobilization platforms, or optical or electroactive labels has added a new dimension to addressing these challenges. This review paper aims to discuss the construction of different types of nanomaterial-based biosensors in food safety, exosome detection and finally, cancer detection, as well as highlights the advantages of these biosensors over traditional techniques. In addition, a comparative study between the nanomaterial-based biosensors taking into account the linear range and limits of detection in these mentioned applications was also conducted. Hence, this paper provides key insights into designing and fabricating biosensors utilizing nanomaterials and opens new avenues in disease and food safety research.

The nanoparticle is one of the most intensively studied areas in science, ranging from engineering to medical fields and has been a center of attraction that is explored to find new and promising dimensions for its use. These nanoparticles have obtained eminence because of their potential efficacy, shape, and size. In the field of nanoscience, the use of natural resources is an emerging topic of interest that has been taken into consideration due to the presence of a reservoir of a priceless wellspring of novel and new chemical entities that have a therapeutic effect. The system has found its space in the treatment of many diseases, including Diabetes, Neurological disorders, Cardiovascular Disorders, and even cancer. At present, cancer is one of the most common causes of death all over the world. Various drugs are used to treat numerous types of cancers, but at the same time, they are found to be harmful to the patient and produce several side effects. To meet the gap, herbal nanoparticles have been studied and are found to be nonhazardous and environmentally friendly. Herbal nanoparticles are synthesized to target various biological pathways that induce cancer and pieces of evidence have shown comparable efficacy like other drugs that have been used conventionally for cancer treatment. The review highlights the mechanism of action and prospects of the nanotechnological approach using phytochemicals for the treatment of cancer and will help to bridge the gap between herbal nanotechnology and current knowledge related to it.

Background: The compromising effect of reservoir’s compositions on the acceleration of oil towards the production center during recovery efforts in both primary and secondary applications prelude the application of nanofluid in the oil industry. Objective: This study explores the efficacy of Ascorbic acid on the surface of Zinc Ferrite nanoparticles in interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability modification. Methods: The use of co-precipitation method for the synthesis of Zinc Ferrite nanoparticles (ZNP) was successful at varying temperatures. Consequently, ascorbic acid NPs were coated on ZNP and their brine based nanofluid was prepared. Results: The effects of calcination temperature on the morphology, structure and the crystallinity size were investigated. In concentration influence determination, wettability alteration (W.A) was the most affected mobility factor at 0.15M. However, at 0.25M higher concentration, the IFT, W.A and nanofluid’s stability were relatively improved significantly. Conclusions: This research enhances our understanding of the ascorbic acid effect on ZNP and the fascinating impact of their combined usage as an enhanced oil recovery agents. Ascorbic acid improved the efficiency of the coated ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles on IFT and contact angle.

Background: Small concentration of magnetic material, in general, the transition metal atoms (TM), when doped into a semiconductor, behaves as a diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS). It has an application to Quantum computing & spintronic devices. DMS silicon carbide has strong coupling and high Curie temperature. The magnetic and electronic properties of SiC with TMs impurities have been in focus for theoretical and experimental researchers. Objective: The objective of this work is to study the electrical and magnetic properties of tungsten doped cubic SiC. Comparing the density of states plot with and without impurity, the change in property happening due to the presence of tungsten is observed. Partial density of states is also plotted and interpreted. Self-consistent spin polarized calculations are done to study the magnetic properties. Magnetic Moment is also calculated for substitutional doping of SiC at different sites. Methods: Tungsten doped 3C-SiC is investigated by using the first-principle energy code, Quantum Espresso, which uses pseudopotential within Density Functional Theory (DFT). The calculations are done by density functional pseudopotential energy calculations in periodic systems by solving iteratively the Kohn Sham equation in a plane wave basis set. Both norm conserving and Vanderbilt USPP are used. Self-consistent iterations were performed until convergence of total energy and total charge was obtained. We used different k-point meshes for different supercells with 16, 54 and 128 atoms giving results for carious impurity percentages. Results: The formation energy values obtained indicate that the W impurity prefers the Si site to the C site in cubic SiC. The presence of a narrow band towards the conduction band minimum is due to the W-d states for Si site substitution. Both spin-up and spin-down states contribute towards the valence band, and a small contribution goes towards the conduction band. The magnetic moment values for C site substitution are lower than Si site substitution. Conclusion: It is observed W doped with Si site of cubic silicon carbide shows ferromagnetic behavior. Hence, there is a possibility of 3C SiC doped with W at the C site to behave as a semi-insulating material.

Objective: In this study, fenugreek gum (isolated from fenugreek seed) was modified into a grafted form using a microwave-assisted method. Acrylamide was used as a monomer, and ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN), potassium persulfate (KPS), and ammonium persulfate (APS) were used as redox initiators. Methods: The experimental design (Taguchi OA) was used to optimize the synthesis of the grafted copolymer of fenugreek gum. In this model, seven independent variables were selected on the basis of their preliminary study. These were monomer concentration (X1), gum concentration (X2), initiator concentration (X3), irradiation power (X4), speed (X5), time (X6), temperature (X7), and three response variables as % yield (Y1), % grafting (Y2), and % grafting efficiency (Y3) were identified. The optimized copolymers of grafted gum were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), NMR studies, surface morphology and swelling index. Results: The yield of fenugreek gum after extraction was found to be 55.99±0.015% w/w. The percentage grafting of 50.20±4.0, along with grafting efficiency of 83.7±0.1, was obtained with the selected concentration of acrylamide as 15 mg, grafted gum as 0.25 mg, and ammonium persulfate as 0.2 mg after 60 sec. of irradiation time. Conclusion: In the present study, the graft copolymers of fenugreek gum were synthesized. After optimization of the grafting batch, the design (Taguchi OA) was combined with a desirability function. The results underline the importance of graft polymerization techniques for modifying the properties of a polymer.

Background: A new sensitive and rapid reverse phase HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous determination of vanillic acid (VA) and glyburide in the formulation and validated according to (ICH) Q2 (R1) guidelines. Methods: The HPLC analysis was performed using the C-18 reverse phase column and a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and orthophosphoric acid (0.1% v/v) of ratio 70:30 v/v at 1 mL/min of flow rate. The detection was performed at the wavelength (λ) of 234 nm (isosbestic point), and the retention time of VA and glyburide was found around 2.6 and 5.4 min. The calibration plot gave a linear relationship over the concentration range of 2–10 μg/mL with a regression coefficient of 0.999. The LOD and LOQ for VA were 0.34 and 1.04 μg/mL, while for glyburide it was 0.38 μg/mL and 1.17 μg/mL respectively. The accuracy of the proposed method was determined by recovery studies and was in the range of 95% to 105%. The RSD% of the determination of precision was <2%. Results: The results of the robustness study were within the acceptable limits in response to changes in flow rate, ratio of mobile phase, and pH. The method was successfully applied for the determination of EE% and drug release from amphiphilic polymeric micelles. Conclusion: The EE% of both the drugs prepared in a liquid formulation of amphiphilic polymeric micelles was found to be greater than 90%. The results of drug release studies indicated almost 100% VA and 85.3% glyburide release using pH-gradient method within 4 and 48 h respectively.