Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Anticancer Targeted Drug Delivery Nanotechnology
The construction of nanosized drug delivery systems possesses tremendous potential due to their ability to improve the solubility of poorly soluble drugs and to reduce metabolism by dissolving them in their hydrophobic or hydrophilic compartment. In addition, nanomedicine holds the advantages of passive targeting ability due to an enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, a large surface-to-volume ratio for drug loading, a tunable size for modification, a prolonged plasma half-life and a different biodistribution profile compared to conventional chemotherapy. Typical nano-based delivery vehicles include liposome, micelle, dendrimer, inorganic vector, nanogel and nanoemulsion, while novel nanocarriers also contain biomimetic reconstituted high-density lipoprotein (rHDL), exosome and the hybrid nanoparticle, which come from the mixture of nanomaterials. Each of these nanotools displays its unique physiochemical properties and possesses the ability for further modification of active targeting ligands.
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Non-Titania Based Semiconductor Hetero-Nanoarchitectures
Plasmonic photocatalysts combining metallic nanoparticles and semiconductors have been aimed as versatile alternatives to drive light-assisted catalytic chemical reactions beyond the ultraviolet (UV) regions, and overcome one of the major drawbacks of the most exploited photocatalysts (TiO2 or ZnO). The strong size and morphology dependence of metallic nanostructures to tune their visible to near-infrared (vis-NIR) light harvesting capabilities has been combined with the design of a wide variety of architectures for the semiconductor supports to promote the selective activity of specific crystallographic facets. The search for efficient heterojunctions has been subjected to numerous studies, especially those involving gold nanostructures and titania semiconductors. In the present review, we paid special attention to the most recent advances in the design of gold-semiconductor hetero-nanostructures including emerging metal oxides such as cerium oxide or copper oxide (CeO2 or Cu2O) or metal chalcogenides such as copper sulfide or cadmium sulfides (CuS or CdS). These alternative hybrid materials were thoroughly built in past years to target research fields of strong impact, such as solar energy conversion, water splitting, environmental chemistry, or nanomedicine.
  • 1.3K
  • 15 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Nanoparticles for Biogas Producers
Nanotechnology has an increasingly large impact on a broad scope of biotechnological, pharmacological and pure technological applications. The novel notion of dosing ions using modified nanoparticles can be used to progress up biogas production in oxygen free digestion processes. 
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
CDs as Antimicrobial Agents
Carbon dots (CDs) have been identified as a promising class of photosensitiser nanomaterials for the specific detection and inactivation of different bacterial species. CDs possess exceptional and tuneable chemical and photoelectric properties that make them excellent candidates for antibacterial theranostic applications, such as great chemical stability, high water solubility, low toxicity and excellent biocompatibility. 
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Multimetallic Nanoparticles
Multimetallic NPs, particularly those formed by more than two metals, exhibit rich electronic, optical, and magnetic properties. Multimetallic NP properties, including size and shape, zeta potential, and large surface area, facilitate their efficient interaction with bacterial cell membranes, thereby inducing disruption, reactive oxygen species production, protein dysfunction, DNA damage, and killing potentiated by the host’s immune system.
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Polymer/Clay Nanocomposites
Clays and clay minerals are common natural materials, the unique properties of which have attracted the interest of the industry, especially because these materials are easily available, cheap, and non-toxic. Clays and clay minerals are widely used in many applications, such as in ceramic production, in the clarification of liquids, pollutant adsorbers, filler in composites and nanocomposites, soil amendments, in pharmacy, etc.
  • 1.3K
  • 18 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Smart Window
Dimming and scattering control are two of the major features of smart windows, which provide adjustable sunlight intensity and protect the privacy of people in a building. A hybrid photo- and electrical-controllable smart window that exploits salt and photochromic dichroic dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal was developed. The photochromic dichroic dye causes a change in transmittance from high to low upon exposure to sunlight. When the light source is removed, the smart window returns from colored to colorless. The salt-doped cholesteric liquid crystal can be bi-stably switched from transparent into the scattering state by a low-frequency voltage pulse and switched back to its transparent state by a high-frequency voltage pulse. In its operating mode, an LC smart window can be passively dimmed by sunlight and the haze can be actively controlled by applying an electrical field to it; it therefore exhibits four optical states—transparent, scattering, dark clear, and dark opaque. Each state is stable in the absence of an applied voltage. This smart window can automatically dim when the sunlight gets stronger, and according to user needs, actively adjust the haze to achieve privacy protection.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Nanoporous Gold in Therapy, Drug Delivery, and Diagnostics
Nanoporous gold (np-Au) has promising applications in therapeutic delivery. The promises arise from its high surface area-to-volume ratio, ease of tuning shape and size, ability to be modified by organic molecules including drugs, and biocompatibility. For the demands of a real patient, light-triggered on-demand pulsatile release from a reservoir containing highly enriched medicines has been demonstrated to be provided by versatile drug delivery devices using nanoporous membranes made of gold nanorods and dendrimers.
  • 1.3K
  • 29 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Hybrid Nanobioengineered Nanomaterial-Based Electrochemical Biosensors
Nanobioengineered-based hybrid electrochemical biosensors exploit the synergistic properties of hybrid systems that connect biomolecules with nanomaterials to engineer highly sensitive biosensing platforms for the specific electrochemical detection of different target analytes.
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Chitosan in Metal Nanoparticles Synthesis
Chitosan (CS) has been widely used as a surface coating for metal nanoparticles. CS can work as a reducing agent, a shape director, or a size-controllable agent in the synthesis of metal nanoparticles. The previous studies have shown that functionalizing the surface of metal nanoparticles by CS can offer many advantages, including improving physicochemical stability, a drug carrier, controlling drug release, promoting muco-adhesiveness and tissue penetration, encouraging cell interactions, and enhancing antimicrobial effects.
  • 1.3K
  • 19 Feb 2021
Topic Review
RNA-Based Nano-Theranostic Approaches for Cancer Management
In the fight against cancer, early diagnosis is critical for effective treatment. Traditional cancer diagnostic technologies, on the other hand, have limitations that make early detection difficult. Therefore, multi-functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) and nano-biosensors have revolutionized the era of cancer diagnosis and treatment for targeted action via attaching specified and biocompatible ligands to target the tissues, which are highly over-expressed in certain types of cancers. Advancements in multi-functionalized NPs can be achieved via modifying molecular genetics to develop personalized and targeted treatments based on RNA interference. Modification in RNA therapies utilized small RNA subunits in the form of small interfering RNAs (siRNA) for overexpressing the specific genes of, most commonly, breast, colon, gastric, cervical, and hepatocellular cancer.
  • 1.3K
  • 15 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Nanomaterials‘ effects on Plants under Salt Stress
Plant salinity resistance results from a combination of responses at the physiological, molecular, cellular, and metabolic levels. Nanoparticles are used as an emerging tool to stimulate specific biochemical reactions related to plant ecophysiological output because of their small size, increased surface area and absorption rate, efficient catalysis of reactions, and adequate reactive sites. Regulated ecophysiological control in saline environments could play a crucial role in plant growth promotion and survival of plants under suboptimal conditions. Plant biologists are seeking to develop a broad profile of genes and proteins that contribute to plant salt resistance. These plant metabolic profiles can be developed due to advancements in genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic techniques.
  • 1.3K
  • 11 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Nanocellulose’s Unique Characteristics as a Chemical Sensor
Composites can be derived from plant-based nanomaterials, among which is nanocellulose which has attracted significant attention as potential replacements for their more conventional petroleum-derived counterparts for use in chemical sensing applications.
  • 1.3K
  • 26 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Natural Compounds: Advantages of Combination Therapy in Cancer
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death, and latest predictions indicate that cancer-related deaths will increase over the next few decades. Despite significant advances in conventional therapies, treatments are still far from ideal due to limitations such as lack of selectivity, non-specific distribution, and multidrug resistance. Some researches are focusing on the development of several strategies to improve the efficiency of chemotherapeutic agents and, as a result, overcome the challenges associated with conventional therapies. In this regard, combined therapy with natural compounds and other therapeutic agents, such as chemotherapeutics or nucleic acids, has recently emerged as a new strategy for tackling the drawbacks of conventional therapies.
  • 1.3K
  • 22 May 2023
Topic Review
Functional Materials Based on Nanocellulose for Pharmaceutical/Medical Applications
Nanocelluloses (NCs), with their remarkable characteristics, have proven to be one of the most promising “green” materials of our times and have received special attention from researchers in nanomaterials. A diversity of new functional materials with a wide range of biomedical applications has been designed based on the most desirable properties of NCs, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and their special physicochemical properties.
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Nanotechnologies for Drug Delivery to the Brain
Drug delivery to the brain has been one of the toughest challenges researchers have faced to develop effective treatments for brain diseases. Owing to the blood–brain barrier (BBB), only a small portion of administered drug can reach the brain. A consequence of that is the need to administer a higher dose of the drug, which, expectedly, leads to a variety of unwanted side effects. Research in a variety of different fields has been underway for the past couple of decades to address this very serious and frequently lethal problem. One area of research that has produced optimistic results in recent years is nanomedicine. Nanomedicine is the science birthed by fusing the fields of nanotechnology, chemistry and medicine into one. Many different types of nanomedicine-based drug-delivery systems are currently being studied for the sole purpose of improved drug delivery to the brain.
  • 1.3K
  • 26 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Nanocomposite materials for Wound Healing
Materials science is a field in which nanotechnology is being greatly explored, due to how much the bulk and surface properties previously mentioned, such as structural tunability, functionalization, and physicochemical stability, etc., are observed to change with diverse synthetization protocols in order to form customized nanostructured materials. Materials properties, such as shape, size, crystal structure, and surface roughness, can be taken advantage of and are currently being applied to practically any area of the biomedical field, such as wound healing and drug delivery around the globe with exceedingly successful results. The use of nanostructured materials in the form of nanoparticles, nanofibers, and any shape given at the nanoscale (1–100 nm), applied towards biotechnological and/or biomedical applications, such as wound healing, treatment of emerging pollutants, and drug delivery, has been exponentially growing over the past few decades.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 May 2021
Topic Review
Synthesis and Characterization of Proteinoid and Nanocapsules
Proteinoids are random polymers composed of amino acids synthesized by stepwise thermal polymerization. They were discovered and studied in the 1950s by Fox and coworkers, who suggested that they formed spontaneously by high heat at the beginning of life on Earth. Nanocapsules (NCs) form spontaneously by heating proteinoids to about 70 °C in an aqueous solution to completely dissolve the polymers, followed by slow cooling to room temperature.
  • 1.3K
  • 27 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Albumin Nanostructures in Cancer
Albumin is a versatile protein being used widely for developing carriers for drugs and nucleic acids. It provides biocompatibility, tumor specificity, the possibility for surface modification, and reduces toxicity. 
  • 1.3K
  • 23 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Nanotechnology for Neurological Disorders after Long COVID Syndrome
Long-term neurological complications, persisting in patients who cannot fully recover several months after severe SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection, are referred to as neurological sequelae of the long COVID syndrome. Among the numerous clinical post-acute COVID-19 symptoms, neurological and psychiatric manifestations comprise prolonged fatigue, “brain fog”, memory deficits, headache, ageusia, anosmia, myalgias, cognitive impairments, anxiety, and depression lasting several months. Considering that neurons are highly vulnerable to inflammatory and oxidative stress damages following the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), neuroinflammation and oxidative stress have been suggested to dominate the pathophysiological mechanisms of the long COVID syndrome. It is emphasized that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress damages are crucial for the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. Importantly, antioxidant therapies have the potential to slow down and prevent disease progression. However, many antioxidant compounds display low bioavailability, instability, and transport to targeted tissues, limiting their clinical applications. Various nanocarrier types, e.g., liposomes, cubosomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, dendrimers, carbon-based nanostructures, nanoceria, and other inorganic nanoparticles, can be employed to enhance antioxidant bioavailability. Here, the potential of phytochemical antioxidants and other neuroprotective agents (curcumin, quercetin, vitamins C, E and D, melatonin, rosmarinic acid, N-acetylcysteine, and Ginkgo Biloba derivatives) in therapeutic strategies for neuroregeneration is highlighted. A particular focus is given to the beneficial role of nanoparticle-mediated drug-delivery systems in addressing the challenges of antioxidants for managing and preventing neurological disorders as factors of long COVID sequelae.  
  • 1.2K
  • 14 Mar 2023
  • Page
  • of
  • 42
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback

Quick Survey

Encyclopedia MDPI is conducting a targeted survey to identify the specific barriers hindering efficient research. We invite you to spend 3 minutes defining the priorities for our next generation of structured knowledge tools.
Take Survey