Topic Review
Carbon Nanomaterials
Being a member of nanofamily, carbon nanomaterials exhibit specific properties that mostly arise from their small size. They have proved as very promising for the application in the technical and biomedical fields. A wide spectrum of use implies the inevitable presence of carbon nanomaterials in the environment, thus potentially endangering the whole nature. Although scientists worldwide have conducted researches investigating the impact of these materials, it is evident that there are still significant gaps concerning the knowledge of their mechanisms, as well as prolonged and chronic exposure and effects. Thinking small can greatly help us improve our lives, but also obliges us to deeply and comprehensively investigate all the possible consequences that could arise from our pure-hearted scientific ambitions and work.
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been firstly introduced and proposed for analytical applications almost immediately after the invention of the laser in 1960. Since then, it has been proposed and today is widely used as an alternative analytical method for numerous applications. The operating principle of LIBS is quite simple and is based on the interaction of a powerful enough laser beam, focused usually on or in a sample, inducing a dielectric breakdown of the material, thus resulting in plasma formation consisting of excited and non-excited atoms and molecules, fragments of molecular species, electrons and ions, and emitting characteristic radiations, whose spectroscopic analysis can in principle provide the elemental composition fingerprint of the material. The required instrumentation consisting basically of a laser source, and a spectrometer/monochromator equipped with the appropriate light detector (nowadays being almost exclusively some CCD or ICCD type detector) is relatively simple and economically affordable, while significant progresses have been achieved to small size and/or portable equipment, facilitating largely the in situ operation.
  • 1.7K
  • 31 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Agro-Based Polymers Food Packaging
This entry compiles information on biopolymers and natural bioactive compounds used in the production of bioactive films. Particular emphasis has been given to the methods used for incorporating bioactive compounds into film-forming solutions and their influence on the functional properties of biopolymer films. 
  • 1.7K
  • 13 Nov 2020
Topic Review
LGD Theory for Nanoscale Ferroelectrics
This is a entry of the Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire (LGD) Theory applied for description of nanoscale ferroelectrics. The polarization switching kinetics of nanosized ferroelectric crystals and the transition between homogeneous and domain switching in the nanoscale ferroelectric films are considered. Homogeneous switching according to the Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire (LGD) theory is possible only in two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectrics. The main condition for the applicability of the LGD theory in such systems is its homogeneity along the polarization switching direction. A review is given of the experimental results for two-dimensional (2D) films of a ferroelectric polymer, nanosized barium titanate nanofilms, and hafnium oxide-based films. For ultrathin 2D ferroelectric polymer films, the results are confirmed by first-principle calculations. Fitting of the transition region from homogeneous to domain switching by sigmoidal Boltzmann functions was carried out. Boltzmann function fitting data enabled us to estimate correctly the region sizes of the homogeneous switching in which the LGD theory is valid. These sizes contain several lattice constants or monolayers of a nanosized ferroelectrics.
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  • 14 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles in Bone
Bone injuries and diseases constitute a burden both socially and economically, as the consequences of a lack of effective treatments affect both the patients’ quality of life and the costs on the health systems. This impended need has led to a recent focus on the development of efficacious bone tissue engineering solutions. Here, the use of biomaterial-based nanoparticles for the delivery of therapeutic factors is summrised. Among the biomaterials being considered to date, calcium phosphates have emerged as one of the most promising materials for bone repair applications due to their osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity and their ability to be resorbed in the body. Calcium phosphate nanoparticles have received particular attention as non-viral vectors for gene therapy, as factors such as plasmid DNAs, microRNAs (miRNA) and silencing RNA (siRNAs) can be easily incorporated on their surface. Calcium phosphate nanoparticles loaded with therapeutic factors have also been delivered to the site of bone injury using scaffolds and hydrogels. Here an overview of the use of calcium phosphate nanoparticles as carriers for therapeutic factors for application in bone tissue engineering is provided.
  • 1.7K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Taxol Biosynthetic Pathway
Taxol is one of the most effective anticancer drugs in the world that is widely used in the treatment of several cancers. The elucidation of the taxol biosynthetic pathway is the key to solve the problem of taxol supply. So far, the taxol biosynthetic pathway has been reported to require an estimated 20 steps of enzymatic reactions, and most of enzymes involved have been well characterized. In details, the source and formation of the taxane core and the process of the downstream synthetic pathway have been basically depicted, while the modification of the core taxane skeleton has not been fully reported, mainly concerning the developments from diol intermediates to 2-debenzoyltaxane. 
  • 1.7K
  • 01 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a single-cell green alga about 10 micrometres in diameter that swims with two flagella. It has a cell wall made of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, a large cup-shaped chloroplast, a large pyrenoid, and an eyespot that senses light. Chlamydomonas species are widely distributed worldwide in soil and fresh water. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an especially well studied biological model organism, partly due to its ease of culturing and the ability to manipulate its genetics. When illuminated, C. reinhardtii can grow photoautotrophically, but it can also grow in the dark if supplied with organic carbon. Commercially, C. reinhardtii is of interest for producing biopharmaceuticals and biofuel, as well being a valuable research tool in making hydrogen.
  • 1.7K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Microbial PolyHydroxyAlkanoate Biopolymers
PolyHydroxyAlkanoates (PHAs) fulfil every criterion set out in the definition of a natural polymer or a biopolymer. PHA biopolymers, a group of biopolyesters, are found in nature, and they are biosynthesized using renewable carbon in microbes. PHAs are biodegradable, because nature has the tools to convert them into CO2 and water and about 10% organic fertilizer or humus, the same as in the biodegradation of cellulose or cotton.
  • 1.7K
  • 07 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Classification of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are promising, environmentally friendly energy sources. Many works are devoted to the study of materials, individual aspects of SOFC operation, and the development of devices based on them. This entry attempts to cover and structure the entire spectrum of SOFC concepts and designs that currently exist.
  • 1.7K
  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Amino Acid
α-Amino acids find widespread applications in various areas of life and physical sciences. Their syntheses are carried out by a multitude of protocols, of which Petasis and Strecker reactions have emerged as the most straightforward and most widely used.
  • 1.7K
  • 04 Feb 2022
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