Cu electrodeposition was tuned by phosphate anions and the so-prepared electrodes exhibited outstanding selectivity for CO2conversion to HCOOH.

We investigated the combined effect of the initial cell density (12,500, 35,000, 75,000, and 100,000 cells cm(-2)) and concentration of the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin on HeLa cells by performing time-dependent cytotoxicity assays using real-time electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. A correlation between the rate of cell death and the initial cell seeding density was found at 2.5 μM doxorubicin concentration, whereas this was not observed at 5 or 100 μM. By sensing the changes in the cell-substrate interaction using impedance spectroscopy under static conditions, the onset of cytotoxicity was observed 5 h earlier than when using a standard colorimetric end-point assay (MTS) which measures changes in the mitochondrial metabolism. Furthermore, with the MTS assay no cytotoxicity was observed after 15 h of incubation with 2.5 μM doxorubicin, whereas the impedance showed at this time point cell viability that was below 25%. These results indicate that impedance detection reveals cytotoxic events undetectable when using the MTS assay, highlighting the importance of combining impedance detection with traditional drug toxicity assays towards a more in depth understanding of the effect of anti-cancer drugs on in vitro assays. Moreover, the detection of doxorubicin induced toxicity determined with impedance under static conditions proved to be 6 times faster than in perfusion culture.

In this work, we have developed a microfluidic cytotoxicity assay for a cell culture and detection platform, which enables both fluid handling and electrochemical/optical detection. The cytotoxic effect of anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX), oxaliplatin (OX) as well as OX-loaded liposomes, developed for targeted drug delivery, was evaluated using real-time impedance monitoring. The time-dependent effect of DOX on HeLa cells was monitored and found to have a delayed onset of cytotoxicity in microfluidics compared with static culture conditions based on data obtained in our previous study. The result of a fluorescent microscopic annexin V/propidium iodide assay, performed in microfluidics, confirmed the outcome of the real-time impedance assay. In addition, the response of HeLa cells to OX-induced cytotoxicity proved to be slower than toxicity induced by DOX. A difference in the time-dependent cytotoxic response of fibrosarcoma cells (HT1080) to free OX and OX-loaded liposomes was observed and attributed to incomplete degradation of the liposomes, which results in lower drug availability. The matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-dependent release of OX from OX-loaded liposomes was also confirmed using laryngopharynx carcinoma cells (FaDu). The comparison and the observed differences between the cytotoxic effects under microfluidic and static conditions highlight the importance of comparative studies as basis for implementation of microfluidic cytotoxic assays.

The synthesis of monodisperse size-and shape-controlled Au nanocrystals is often achieved with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) surfactant; however, its role in the growth of such tailored nanostructures is not well understood. To elucidate the formation mechanism(s) and evolution of the morphology of Au nanocrystals in the early growth stage, we present an in situ liquid-cell scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) investigation using electron beam-induced radiolytic species as the reductant. The resulting particle shape at a low beam dose rate is shown to be strongly influenced by the surfactant; the Au nanocrystal growth rate is suppressed by increasing the CTAB concentration. At a low CTAB concentration, the nanoparticles (NPs) follow a reaction-limited growth mechanism, while at high a CTAB concentration the NPs follow a diffusion-limited mechanism, as described by the Lifshitz−Slyozov−Wagner (LSW) model. Moreover, we investigate the temporal evolution of specific NP geometries. The amount of Au reduced by the electron beam outside the irradiated area is quantified to better interpret the nanocrystal growth kinetics, as well as to further develop an understanding of electron beam interactions with nanomaterials toward improving the interpretation of in situ measurements.

The galvanic replacement reaction (GRR) is a convenient method for synthesizing hollow/porous noble metal nanostructures with energy, health, and environmental applications. Understanding the reaction mechanism is important for optimizing the produced nanostructures' physicochemical properties. Using liquid-phase scanning transmission electron microscopy (LPSTEM), we quantitatively analyzed the GRR process in individual silver nanowires (AgNWs) reacting with an aqueous HAuCl 4 solution. The experiments and atomic-scale simulations show that GRR is a highly selective process with respect to the exposed surface facets, and we discover that the process progression is influenced by the internal crystal domains. We observe that the etching of AgNWs starts preferentially from facets with high energy sites while not favorable on low energy {111} facets, where even the internal twin facets within the nanostructures are found to be temporarily stable. The LPSTEM-observed etch rates in single or multiple crystal segments in AgNWs are shown to approach diffusion-limited conditions. These results provide intricate and detailed insights into the GRR process, which are difficult to achieve by other methods, and such studies will be beneficial for the understanding of how the surface energy and number of available surface sites influence the initiation probability, which will theoretically guide the synthesis of nanostructures, also supported with the deeper understanding of how the internal structure may influence the process.