Artículos SCI

Silica nanoparticles are attractive carriers due to their improved safety and effectiveness in drug delivery. Silica nanoparticles were synthesized by using microemulsion assisted sol-gel method, and a model anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was added to the silica precursor before hydrolysis and condensation reactions start. The obtained materials were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Drug encapsulation within silica nanoparticles causes an increase in particle size. However, particle morphology is not affected. The drug release profile was obtained through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The encapsulation approach showed to be effective for sustaining a continuous and increasing release during testing time (98 h). Further studies were performed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of silica nanoparticles with loaded 5-FU on Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1). Materials are non-cytotoxic for all concentration tested (5-200 mu g/mL).

In this work, (scanning) transmission electron microscopy has been used to study the nanostructure of porous cobalt coatings obtained by magnetron sputtering using helium as process gas. This nanostructure consists of closed pores of different nanometric size (about 4-20 nm) that are distributed all over a nanocrystalline Co matrix and filled with the deposition gas. Spatially resolved electron energy-loss spectroscopy analysis was applied to measure and map, with high lateral resolution, the relevant physical properties (density, pressure and He-K edge shift) of helium trapped inside these individual nanopores, in order to provide new insights about the growth mechanism involved in such systems. In particular, a coefficient of proportionality, C = 0.039 eV nm(3), between the blue shift of the He K-edge and the He density has been found. In addition, very high He densities (10-100 at./nm(3)) and pressures in the gigapascal range (0.05-5.0 GPa) have been measured. The linear dependence of these parameters as a function of the inverse radii obeying to the Laplace-Young law for most of the pores suggests that their formation during the coating's growth takes place in regime of elastic deformation of the Co matrix.