Fabrication of Silver Nanoparticles Using a Gas Phase Nanocluster Device and Preliminary Biological Uses

Abstract

Nanoparticles can be used in a large variety of applications, including magnetic sensing, biological, superconductivity, tissue engineering, and other fields. In this study, we explore the fabrication of gas phase silver nanoparticles using a sputtering evaporation source. This setup composed of a dual magnetron cluster source holds several advantages over other techniques. The system has independent control over the cluster concentration and a wide range of cluster size and materials that can be used for the clusters and for the matrix where it can be embedded. Characterization of these silver nanoparticles was done using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). We obtain a lateral width of 10.6 nm with a dispersion of 0.24 nm. With atomic force microscopy (AFM) a Gaussian fit of this distribution yields and average height of 6.3 nm with a standard deviation of 1.4 nm. We confirm that the deposited silver nanoparticles have a homogenous area distribution, that they have a defined shape and size distribution, and that they are single standing nanoparticles. Given that the scientific literature is not precise regarding the toxic concentration of the nanoparticles, devices such as ours can help clarify these questions. In order to explore further biological applications, we have done preliminary experiments of cell spreading (myoblast adhesion), obtaining interesting morphological changes correlated with the silver concentration on the surface. With a deposited silver concentration ranging from 100–620 ng/cm2, the cells showed morphological changes in a short time of 2 h. We conclude that this high precision nanoparticle fabrication technique is adequate for further biological research.

Spontaneous in-flight assembly of magnetic nanoparticles into macroscopic chains

“…The growing activity in this field has also stimulated the development of methods for the production of NPs and clusters with precise control of size, shape, and composition. In this regard, gas aggregation sources, [10][11][12] which allow obtaining core/shell structured nanoparticles 6,10 easily, were recently modified to achieve also high production rates 13 as in the case of wet chemistry synthesis techniques. Nevertheless, these latter methods have limitations in terms of the simplicity of the process, typically involving several processing steps, surface contamination and size distribution.…”

Spontaneous self‐assembly of magnetic nanoparticle chains, at the first stage of a gas aggregation source

“…The nanostructures were grown using the gas phase aggregation method with a cluster beam system manufactured by SinoRaybo NanoTech of China, located in the Physics Department of Federico Santa María Technical University, Valparaíso, Chile. [ 16 ] The equipment configuration includes an aggregation chamber, whose walls are cooled down with liquid nitrogen. The metal vapor source is a sputter gun with variable power, cooled by recirculating water and supplied with a controlled argon gas flow.…”

A New Edible Film to Produce In Vitro Meat

“…Morphology of the cell culture on the films were different when compared against the control (cells cultured without film). However, it has been reported that morphology of C2C12 depends of the kind of surface over which it is cultured, for instance, fibroblastic shape on plastic, rounded on Matrigel [10], or even star-shaped when cultured on nanocoated surfaces [29]. The morphology of myoblasts, myocytes, and myotubes in scaffolds can vary substantially from those in monolayer culture [2,8,10].…”