Brittleness and other properties such as low thermal stability, medium gas barrier properties and low solvent resistance (e.g., against water) of the pure biopolymer film are often insufficient for food packaging applications. The nanoscale distribution of nanoclays (such as montmorillonite, saponite or hectorite), with a high aspect ratio (100-1,500) and extremely high surface-to-volume ratio ...

The electrostatic assembly of nanocomposite thin films consisting of alternating layers of an organometallic redox polymer (RP) and oxidoreductase enzymes, glucose oxidase (GOX), lactate oxidase (LOX) and pyruvate oxidase (PYX), was investigated. Multilayer nanostructures were fabricated on gold surfaces by the deposition of an anionic self-assembled monolayer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid, fol...

This work reports the preparation, characterization and application as both electrochromic materials and electrochemical sensors of novel materials: carbon nanotubes/ruthenium purple nanocomposites. Using an innovative route based on a heterogeneous electrochemical reaction involving iron oxide species encapsulated within the cavities of the carbon nanotubes, the nanocomposite materials were ob...

Recent research on the solution-based fabrication of inorganic thin films and organic/inorganic nanolaminates has ranged from fundamental studies of biomineralization to the synthesis of novel materials and devices. Highlights include the elucidation of how biogenics and model organic nucleants affect the form of the biomineral; synthesis of mesoscale nanocomposite films by surfactant templatin...

Montmorillonite modified with a quaternary ammonium salt C30B/starch nanocomposite (C30B/ST-NC), silver nanoparticles/starch nanocomposite (Ag-NPs/ST-NC) and both silver nanoparticles/C30B/starch nanocomposites (Ag-NPs/C30B/ST-NC) films were produced. The nanoclay (C30B) was dispersed in a starch solution using an ultrasonic probe. Different concentrations of Ag-NPs (0.3, 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0mM) we...

Chitosan the second most abundant polysaccharide is biodegradable, biocompatible, and nontoxic. These properties makes chitosan widely applicable in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields for controlled release of drugs for wound management and space filling implants etc. In the present study fungal chitosan is isolated form Cunninghamella elegans, characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy by confi...

Controlling cell adhesion on a biomaterial surface is associated with the long-term efficacy of an implanted material. Here we connect the material properties of nanocomposite films made from PEO physically cross-linked with layered silicate nanoparticles (Laponite) to cellular adhesion. Fibroblast cells do not adhere to pure PEO, but they attach to silicate containing nanocomposites. Under aqu...

The unique physical and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites have been attributed to the interfacial interactions between the organic matrix and nanoscale particles. We demonstrate the potential to tune this interaction between poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and silica nanoparticles, as a function of either nanosilica surface chemistry or polymer reactivity. Functionalized nanosili...

Polymer/metal nanocomposite containing intrinsically anisotropic metal nanostructures such as metal nanorods and nanowires appeared extremely more sensitive and responsive to mechanical stimuli than nanocomposites containing spherical nanoparticles. After uniaxial stretching of the supporting polymer matrix (poly(vinyl alcohol)), the elongated silver nanostructures embedded at low concentration...

Zn-silica nanocomposite thin films with varying Zn metal content, deposited by atom beam sputtering technique were subjected to 100 MeV Ag ion irradiation. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry reveals the loss of Zn with irradiation, which is observed to be greater from thin films with lower Zn content. The sputtered species collected on carbon-coated transmission electron microscopy (TEM) gr...