Homogeneous molecular catalysts are immobilzed in a well-defined fashion on individual silica nanoparticles with a narrow particle size distribution by covalent attachment. This synthetic methodology is demonstrated with modified salicylaldiminato-substituted titanium(IV) complexes incorporating a trimethoxysilaneterminated linker: dichloro-bis[κ2-N,O-6-(3-(trimethoxysilyl)propoxyphenylimino)-2...

Silica-natural rubber nanocomposites were obtained through a novel non-aqueous in situ sol-gel synthesis, producing the amount of water necessary to induce the hydrolysis and condensation of a tetraethoxysilane precursor by esterification of formic acid with ethanol. The method allows the synthesis of low hydrophilic silica nanoparticles with ethoxy groups linked to the silica surface which ena...

BACKGROUND Silica nanoparticles have been discovered to exert cytotoxicity and induce apoptosis in normal human cells. However, until now, few studies have investigated the cytotoxicity of silica nanoparticles in tumor cells. METHODS This study investigated the cytotoxicity of 7-50 nm silica nanoparticles in human HepG2 hepatoma cells, using normal human L-02 hepatocytes as a control. Cell nu...

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a valuable resource for regenerative medicine treatments for orthopaedic repair and beyond. Following developments in isolation, expansion and differentiation protocols, efforts to promote clinical translation of emerging cellular strategies now seek to improve cell delivery and targeting. This study shows efficient live MSC labelling using silica-coated ...

BACKGROUND Silicon dioxide composites have been found to enhance the mechanical properties of scaffolds and to support growth of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) both in vitro and in vivo. Silica (silicon dioxide alone) exists as differently sized particles when suspended in culture medium, but it is not clear whether particle size influences the beneficial effect of silicon dio...

Curcumin is the natural bio-active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) with known therapeutic properties; nevertheless, its biological applications are limited due to its poor bioavailability. To overcome this limitation, curcumin was conjugated with silica nanoparticles. Curcumin was separated from turmeric by microwave-assisted extraction and silica nanoparticles were developed from rice...

colloidal nanosilica is currently being produced by various methods which are mainly high energy intensive and/or not environmentally friendly. it is therefore essential to develop new energy-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies. this paper introduces a new ultrasound assisted route based on alkali leaching of silica fume for synthesis of colloidal silica nanoparticles. the ef...

An affinity media for endotoxin removal based on silica gel was prepared by activation with silane coupling agent and subsequent conjugation with histidine (His) as a ligand. The influence of pore size and particle dimension of the silica gel and the grafting conditions such as reaction temperature and concentration of His in solution on the grafting yield of His were studied by means of IR, th...

Self- and cross-metathesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) was investigated using a silica alumina supported Re(2)O(7) catalyst. Although a 3 wt% Re(2)O(7)/SiO(2)-Al(2)O(3)/SnBu(4) is already active for the metathesis of unsaturated FAMEs, the results have shown that particle size of silica alumina support has a profound influence on its activity and selectivity. Consequently, high substrat...