In this study, Mo 3 Se 3 − single-chain atomic crystals (SCACs) with atomically small chain diameters of ∼0.6 nm, large surface areas, and mechanical flexibility were synthesized and investigated as an extracellular matrix (ECM)mimicking scaffold material for tissue engineering applications. The proliferation of L-929 and MC3T3-E1 cell lines increased up to 268.4 ± 24.4% and 396.2 ± 8.1%, respectively, after 48 h of culturing with Mo 3 Se 3 − SCACs. More importantly, this extremely high proliferation was observed when the cells were treated with 200 μg mL −1 of Mo 3 Se 3 − SCACs, which is above the cytotoxic concentration of most nanomaterials reported earlier. An ECM-mimicking scaffold film prepared by coating Mo 3 Se 3 − SCACs on a glass substrate enabled the cells to adhere to the surface in a highly stretched manner at the initial stage of cell adhesion. Most cells cultured on the ECM-mimicking scaffold film remained alive; in contrast, a substantial number of cells cultured on glass substrates without the Mo 3 Se 3 − SCAC coating did not survive. This work not only proves the exceptional biocompatible and bioactive characteristics of the Mo 3 Se 3 − SCACs but also suggests that, as an ECM-mimicking scaffold material, Mo 3 Se 3 − SCACs can overcome several critical limitations of most other nanomaterials.
The optimum solvent for Nb2Se9 dispersion, which is a new type of one dimensional (1D) material, is investigated. Among several solvents (16 solvents in total), strong dispersion was observed in benzyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, isobutyl alcohol, and diacetone alcohol, which have medium dielectric constants in the range of 10 to 30 and surface tension in the range of 25 to 35 mJ m−2. 1D Nb2Se9 chains, whose size is less than 10 nm, are well dispersed and it is possible to disperse mono-chains of 1 nm or less in a specific dispersion region. The 1D unit chain with dangling bond free surface and high volume to area ratio is expected to be used in applications that utilize the surface of the material. Such dispersion is an important first step towards various potential applications and is an indispensable scientific goal for the practical applications of Nb2Se9.
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