Controlled release of basic fibroblast growth factor from a water-floatable polyethylene nonwoven fabric sheet for maintenance culture of iPSCs.

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is an essential supplement for culture media to support the proliferation of human pluripotent stem cells, while preserving their pluripotency. However, it is extremely unstable under cell culture conditions at 37 °C. Therefore, a culture medium supplemented with bFGF needs to be changed every day to maintain an effective concentration of bFGF.

Tailoring of Magnetic Properties of NiO/Ni Composite Particles Fabricated by Pulsed Laser Irradiation.

We present NiO/Ni composite particles with face-centered cubic (fcc) structure prepared by a pulsed laser irradiation of NiO nanoparticles dispersed in liquid. The sizes of particles and the Ni content in NiO/Ni composites were controlled by tuning the laser parameters, such as laser fluence and irradiation time. We found that the weight fraction of Ni has a significant impact on magnetic properties of composite particles.

Fabrication by Laser Irradiation in a Continuous Flow Jet of Carbon Quantum Dots for Fluorescence Imaging.

Fluorescent carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are synthesized by laser irradiation of carbon glassy particles suspended in polyethylene glycol 200 by two methods, a batch and a flow jet configuration. The flow jet configuration is carried out by the simple combination of common laboratory objects to construct a home-made passage reactor of continuous flow. Despite the simplicity of the system, the laser energy is better harvested by the carbon microparticles, improving the fabrication efficiency a 15% and enhancing the fluorescence of CQDs by an order of magnitude in comparison with the conventional batch.

Facile one-pot fabrication of calcium phosphate-based composite nanoparticles as delivery and MRI contrast agents for macrophages.

We developed a facile one-pot fabrication process for magnetic iron oxide-calcium phosphate (IO-CaP) composite nanoparticles via coprecipitation in labile supersaturated CaP solutions containing IO nanocrystals. All the source solutions used were clinically approved for injection, including water and magnetic IO nanocrystals (ferucarbotran, used as a negative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent). This ensured that the resulting nanoparticles were pathogen- and endotoxin-free.

Synthesis of various 3D porous gold-based alloy nanostructures with branched shapes.

This paper presents a facile and flexible synthesis platform for various 3D porous gold-iron nanostructures based on selective laser heating of colloidal nanoparticles and selective acid treatment. The presented approach allows to create porous gold-based nanostructures with different morphologies. In addition, for the first time, our studies indicate that various nanoarchitectures (brain-like, flower-like, cage-like, or raspberry-like structures) can be obtained by varying the experimental conditions such as size of Au and Fe3O4 nanoparticles, solvent, laser fluence, and irradiation time.

Synthesis of new metastable nanoalloys of immiscible metals with a pulse laser technique.

The generation of nanoalloys of immiscible metals is still a challenge using conventional methods. However, because these materials are currently attracting much attention, alternative methods are needed. In this article, we demonstrate a simple but powerful strategy for the generation of a new metastable alloy of immiscible metals.

Tetragonal zirconia spheres fabricated by carbon-assisted selective laser heating in a liquid medium.

Submicrometer-sized tetragonal zirconia spheres are synthesized by carbon-assisted selective pulsed laser heating in a liquid medium at room temperature. Sphere formation and phase transformation from the monoclinic to the tetragonal phase are only observed by laser irradiation of a colloidal solution containing raw zirconia mechanically milled with nanocarbon. This result indicates that nanocarbon, having close contact with zirconia particles, plays a very important role in forming submicrometer-sized tetragonal zirconia spheres.

Synthesis of Au-based porous magnetic spheres by selective laser heating in liquid.

We report the synthesis of Au-based submicrometer-sized spherical particles with uniform morphology/size and integrated porosity-magnetic property in a single particles. The particles are synthesized by a two-step process: (a) selective pulsed laser heating of colloidal nanoparticles to form particles with Au-rich core and Fe-rich shell and (b) acid treatment which leads to formation of porous architecture on particle surface. The simple, fast, inexpensive technique that is proposed demonstrates very promising perspectives for synthesis of composite particles.

General bottom-up construction of spherical particles by pulsed laser irradiation of colloidal nanoparticles: a case study on CuO.

The development of a general method to fabricate spherical semiconductor and metal particles advances their promising electrical, optical, magnetic, plasmonic, thermoelectric, and optoelectric applications. Herein, by using CuO as an example, we systematically demonstrate a general bottom-up laser processing technique for the synthesis of submicrometer semiconductor and metal colloidal spheres, in which the unique selective pulsed heating assures the formation of spherical particles. Importantly, we can easily control the size and phase of resultant colloidal spheres by simply tuning the input laser fluence.

Single-crystalline rutile TiO2 hollow spheres: room-temperature synthesis, tailored visible-light-extinction, and effective scattering layer for quantum dot-sensitized solar cells.

A general synthesis of inorganic single-crystalline hollow spheres has been achieved through a mechanism analogous to the Kirkendall effect, based on a simple one-step laser process performed at room temperature. Taking TiO(2) as an example, we describe the laser process by investigating the influence of experimental parameters, for example, laser wavelength, laser fluence/irradiation time, liquid medium, and concentration of starting materials, on the formation of hollow spheres. It was found that the size-tailored TiO(2) hollow spheres demonstrate tunable light scattering over a wide visible-light range.

Fabrication of crystalline silicon spheres by selective laser heating in liquid medium.

Micrometer and submicrometer crystalline silicon spheres were fabricated by selective laser heating of irregular silicon particles in liquid medium. TEM, SEM, XRD, and XPS characterized the structure and morphology of the prepared silicon spheres. The results suggested that they were spherical with a single crystalline structure.

Preparation of silver spheres by selective laser heating in silver-containing precursor solution.

Dispersed uniform submicron-sized silver spheres were prepared by selective laser heating in the silver-containing precursor solution, which was produced by dissolving the irregular Ag2O in aliphatic amine. By optimizing the process conditions, silver spheres in the range of 578 ± 109 nm were obtained. The smooth surface morphology and solid structure were studied by SEM and TEM.

Preparation of carbon quantum dots with tunable photoluminescence by rapid laser passivation in ordinary organic solvents.

A simple approach to prepare carbon quantum dots is presented in this communication by laser rapid passivation of nano carbon particles in ordinary organic solvent. The as-prepared carbon dots exhibited visible, tunable and stable photoluminescence (PL). XPS analysis showed that the increased oxygen concentration might be concerned with the origin of PL.

Laser photolysis of silver colloid prepared by citric acid reduction method.

By irradiating a silver colloid, prepared via the citric reduction method, using the second harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser, lambda = 532 nm, with laser fluence more than about 0.2 J/cm(2), we prepared a colloid consisting of small spherical silver nanoparticles with d(p) = 8 nm. The process of particle formation can be divided into three steps.