Titanium and titanium alloys exhibit a unique combination of strength and biocompatibility, which enables their use in medical applications and accounts for their extensive use as implant materials in the last 50 years. Currently, a large amount of research is being carried out in order to determine the optimal surface topography for use in bioapplications, and thus the emphasis is on nanotechnology for biomedical applications. It was recently shown that titanium implants with rough surface topography and free energy increase osteoblast adhesion, maturation and subsequent bone formation. Furthermore, the adhesion of different cell lines to the surface of titanium implants is influenced by the surface characteristics of titanium; namely topography, charge distribution and chemistry. The present review article focuses on the specific nanotopography of titanium, i.e. titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes, using a simple electrochemical anodisation method of the metallic substrate and other processes such as the hydrothermal or sol-gel template. One key advantage of using TiO2 nanotubes in cell interactions is based on the fact that TiO2 nanotube morphology is correlated with cell adhesion, spreading, growth and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, which were shown to be maximally induced on smaller diameter nanotubes (15 nm), but hindered on larger diameter (100 nm) tubes, leading to cell death and apoptosis. Research has supported the significance of nanotopography (TiO2 nanotube diameter) in cell adhesion and cell growth, and suggests that the mechanics of focal adhesion formation are similar among different cell types. As such, the present review will focus on perhaps the most spectacular and surprising one-dimensional structures and their unique biomedical applications for increased osseointegration, protein interaction and antibacterial properties.

Journal Pre-proof J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f 2 Abstract Viruses can infect all cell-based organisms, from bacteria to humans, animals, and plants. They are responsible for numerous cases of hospitalization, many deaths, and widespread crop destruction, which all result in an enormous medical, economical, and biological burden. Each of the currently used decontamination methods have important drawbacks. Cold plasma has entered this field as a novel, efficient, and clean solution for virus inactivation. Here, we present the recent developments in this promising field of cold-plasma-mediated virus inactivation, and describe the applications and mechanisms of the inactivation. This is a particularly relevant subject as viral pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, expose the need for alternative viral inactivation methods to replace, complement or upgrade existing ones. Journal Pre-proof J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f 3

Direct plasma oxidation of iron substrates results in the nucleation and growth of α‐Fe2O3 nanowire and nanobelt arrays (see image). The initial plasma heating in the early stages determines the nucleation density, and the growth of nanowires and nanobelts is a function of the temperature‐dependent diffusion of iron atoms and the plasma radical flux on the surface.

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Nanocellulose was successfully extracted from five different lignocellulosic biomass sources viz. banana rachis, sisal, kapok, pineapple leaf and coir using a combination of chemical treatments such as alkaline treatment, bleaching and acid hydrolysis. The shape, size and surface properties of the nanocellulose generally depend on the source and hydrolysis conditions. A comparative study of the fundamental properties of raw material, bleached and nanocellulose was carried out by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, birefringence, X-ray diffraction, inverse gas chromatography and thermogravimetric analysis. Through the characterization of the nanocellulose obtained from different sources, the isolated nanocellulose showed an average diameter in the range of 10-25 nm, high crystallinity, high thermal stability and a great potential to be used with acid coupling agents due to a predominantly basic surface. This work provides an insight into the effective utilization of a variety of plant biomass as a potential source for nanocellulose extraction.

8, 55.8, 114.4, 122.6, 124.4, 125.8, 128.1, 128.2, 129.2, 132.0, 133.3, 142.8, 143.0, 165.2, 186.9; MS (CI): 483 (M + ). Synthesis of DCTE Compounds 7a±10a: A solution of aldehyde 3 or the appropriate ketone 4±6 (0.1 mmol) and malonodinitrile (16.5 mg, 0.25 mmol) in anhydrous dichloroethane (5 mL) was cooled in an ice bath to 0 C under nitrogen atmosphere and treated with TiCl 4 (0.1 mL, 0.91 mmol) dropwise. After stirring for 5 min, pyridine (0.2 mL) was carefully added over 20 min. The purple reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and subsequently heated at reflux for 5±10 min during which time a white precipitate formed and the color changed to pale brown. After cooling to room temperature, the solvents were evaporated under reduced pressure. The solid residue was dissolved in 15 % aqueous HCl (10 mL), the solution was extracted with chloroform (3 20 mL) and the combined organic layers were dried over MgSO 4 , filtered and concentrated in vacuum. Purification of the crude product affords DCTE 7a±10a.7a was prepared from aldehyde 3 in 93 % yield (40 mg) as an orange solid.1 H NMR spectroscopy indicated the product was pure enough to use without further purification. Mp = 102±104 C; 3, 92.6, 109.9, 112.6, 122.3, 124.4, 126.2, 129.0, 129.4, 132.5, 144.8, 145 21.7, 38.3, 93.0, 110.7, 123.2, 122.8, 126.0, 128.6, 129.4, 132.9, 142.6, 143.8, 167.4 84.5, 112.6, 113.0, 114.8, 115.3, 122.7, 123.2, 124.0, 125.9, 128.4, 129.3, 129.9, 132.2, 133.0, 143.1, 143.2, 159.5, 164.9

We observed two long-range-ordering structures of oxygen vacancies, one in every tenth plane of (33 j 0) and another in every fourth plane of (11 j 2) in R-Fe 2 O 3 nanowires and nanobelts synthesized under the same conditions. Interestingly, both types of oxygen-vacancy structures found in different nanowires have an equivalent ordering distance of 1.45 or 1.47 nm and were parallel to the growth direction of the nanowires and nanobelts. Lattice mismatch induced strain at the growth temperatures seems to justify the observed vacancy-ordering distance and may explain the reason for occurrence of such oxygenvacancy ordering in various metal oxide nanowires grown from using both foils and catalyst clusters.

This feature article introduces a deterministic approach for the rapid, single-step, direct synthesis of metal oxide nanowires. This approach is based on the exposure of thin metal samples to reactive oxygen plasmas and does not require any intervening processing or external substrate heating. The critical roles of the reactive oxygen plasmas, surface processes, and plasma-surface interactions that enable this growth are critically examined by using a deterministic viewpoint. The essentials of the experimental procedures and reactor design are presented and related to the key process requirements. The nucleation and growth kinetics is discussed for typical solid-liquid-solid and vapor-solid-solid mechanisms related to the synthesis of the oxide nanowires of metals with low (Ga, Cd) and high (Fe) melting points, respectively. Numerical simulations are focused on the possibility to predict the nanowire nucleation points through the interaction of the plasma radicals and ions with the nanoscale morphological features on the surface, as well as to control the localized 'hot spots' that in turn determine the nanowire size and shape. This generic approach can be applied to virtually any oxide nanoscale system and further confirms the applicability of the plasma nanoscience approaches for deterministic nanoscale synthesis and processing.