Semiconductor nanocomposites, which are composed of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanorods, cadmium sulphide (CdS) nanoparticles (NPs), and Ni clusters, were synthesized. The following steps were adopted: (i) surfactant-capped TiO 2 nanorods with controlled length were synthesized in an autoclave using oleic acid and amino hexanoic acid as surfactants. By using a ligand-exchange procedure, in which nitrosonium tetrafluoroborate (NOBF 4 ) was used to replace the original surfactants, hydrophilic NOBF 4 −TiO 2 nanorods were obtained; (ii) the resulting nanorods were deposited with CdS NPs and (iii) then deposited selectively with Ni clusters (as cocatalyst) on the nanocomposite surface. Under visible-light illumination of the nanocomposite, the generated electrons from the conduction band of CdS are transferred to TiO 2 via TiO 2 /CdS interface, then to metallic Ni cluster. As a result, the electron−hole separation was highly enhanced, leading to a Ni−TiO 2 /CdS nanocomposite with high photocatalytic performance for the production of hydrogen (H 2 ).
This paper presents our recent research results on synthesis and bioapplications of dye-doped silica-based nanoparticles. The dye-doped water soluble organically modified silicate (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles (NPs) with the size of 15–100 nm were synthesized by modified Stöber method from methyltriethoxysilane CH3Si(OCH3)3 precursor (MTEOS). Because thousands of fluorescent dye molecules are encapsulated in the silica-based matrix, the dye-doped nanoparticles are extremely bright and photostable. Their surfaces were modified with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and biocompatible chemical reagents. The highly intensive luminescent nanoparticles were combined with specific bacterial and breast cancer antigen antibodies. The antibody-conjugated nanoparticles can identify a variety of bacterium, such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, through antibody–antigen interaction and recognition. A highly sensitive breast cancer cell detection has been achieved with the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody–nanoparticles complex. These results demonstrate the potential to apply these fluorescent nanoparticles in various biodetection systems.
Protein function prediction is a crucial part of genome annotation. Prediction methods have recently witnessed rapid development, owing to the emergence of high-throughput sequencing technologies. Among the available databases for identifying protein function terms, Gene Ontology (GO) is an important resource that describes the functional properties of proteins. Researchers are employing various approaches to efficiently predict the GO terms. Meanwhile, deep learning, a fast-evolving discipline in data-driven approach, exhibits impressive potential with respect to assigning GO terms to amino acid sequences. Herein, we reviewed the currently available computational GO annotation methods for proteins, ranging from conventional to deep learning approach. Further, we selected some suitable predictors from among the reviewed tools and conducted a mini comparison of their performance using a worldwide challenge dataset. Finally, we discussed the remaining major challenges in the field, and emphasized the future directions for protein function prediction with GO.
The present study presents the synthesis details of titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) of different morphologies using oleic acid (OA) and oleyl amine (OM) as capping agents. Different shapes of NPs, such as nanospheres, nanorods, and nanorhombics, were achieved. In order to develop nanocomposite thin films for photovoltaic cells, these TiO2 NPs were carefully dispersed in 2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene (MEH-PPV) matrix. The properties of synthesized TiO2 NPs and MEH-PPV/TiO2 nanocomposites were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UV-Visible spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence technique. Obtained results showed promising properties for photovoltaic devices, especially solar radiation absorption properties and charge transfer at the interface of the conjugated MEH-PPV matrix and TiO2 dispersed NPs.
In this work, we present the synthesis details of uniform shape and size-controlled titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) nanorods followed by the deposition of cadmium sulfide (CdS) quantum dots on their surface. The achieved surfactant-capped-TiO 2 nanorods as well as CdS/TiO 2 nanocomposites were dispersed in nonpolar solvents, which enabled an easy solution blending with poly ( 2-methoxy, 5-(2-ethyl-hexy-loxy)-p-phenyl vinylene) (MEH-PPV) conjugated polymer to prepare the active layer of bulk hetero junction solar cells (BHJSCs). The properties of the synthesized capped-TiO 2 nanorods, CdS/TiO 2 nanocomposites, as well as those of their corresponding blends with MEH-PPV were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), UVVisible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) technique. The characterization of the effect of the surfactants (oleic acid, OA, olyamine, OM, and 6-aminohexanoic acid, 6AHA) left on TiO 2 surface and CdS surface modification on BHJSC photovoltaic power conversion efficiency (PCE) showed that: i) for the same surfactants, when CdS was added on the surface of TiO 2 nanorods, the PCE increased due to the higher efficiency of CdS compared to MEH-PPV; and ii) the best PEC was obtained with CdS/ OA-6AHA-capped-TiO 2 nanocomposite due to the shortest length of the carbon-chain of 6AHA, leading to higher charge carrier mobility.
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