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Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) have emerged as promising tools in biomedical applications, owing to their inherent physicochemical properties and their ease of functionalization. In all potential applications, the surface functionalization strategy is a key step to ensure that NPs are able to overcome the barriers encountered in physiological media, while introducing specific reactive moieties to enable post-functionalization. Silanization appears as a versatile NP-coating strategy, due to the biocompatibility and stability of silica, thus justifying the need for robust and well controlled silanization protocols. Herein, we describe a procedure for the silica coating of harmonic metal oxide NPs (LiNbO3, LNO) using a water-in-oil microemulsion (W/O ME) approach. Through optimized ME conditions, the silanization of LNO NPs was achieved by the condensation of silica precursors (TEOS, APTES derivatives) on the oxide surface, resulting in the formation of coated NPs displaying carboxyl (LNO@COOH) or azide (LNO@N3) reactive moieties. LNO@COOH NPs were further conjugated to an unnatural azido-containing small peptide to obtain silica-coated LNO NPs (LNO@Talys), displaying both azide and carboxyl moieties, which are well suited for biomedical applications due to the orthogonality of their surface functional groups, their colloidal stability in aqueous medium, and their anti-fouling properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we report on the non-hydrothermal aqueous synthesis and characterization of nanocrystalline lithium aluminum iodate, LiAl(IO3)4. Morphological and compositional analyses were carried out by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray measurements (EDX). The optical and vibrational properties of LiAl(IO3)4 have been studied by UV-Vis and IR spectroscopy. LiAl(IO3)4 is found to crystallize in the non-centrosymmetric, monoclinic P21 space group, contrary to what was reported previously. Theoretical simulations and Rietveld refinements of crystal structure support this finding, together with the relatively high Second Harmonic Generation (SGH) response that was observed. Electronic band structure calculations show that LiAl(IO3)4 crystal has an indirect band gap E gap = 3.68 eV, in agreement with the experimental optical band gap E gap = 3.43 3 eV. The complex relative permittivity and the refraction index of LiAl(IO3)4 have also been calculated as a function of energy, as well as its elastic constants and mechanical parameters. LiAl(IO3)4 is found to be a very compressible and ductile material. Our findings imply that LiAl(IO3)4 is a promising material for optoelectronic and non -linear optical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid nanoparticles composed of an efficient nonlinear optical core and a gold shell can enhance and tune the nonlinear optical emission thanks to the plasmonic effect. However the influence of an incomplete gold shell, i.e., isolated gold nano-islands, is still not well studied. Here LiNbO3 (LN) core nanoparticles of 45 nm were coated with various densities of gold nano-seeds (AuSeeds). As both LN and AuSeeds bear negative surface charge, a positively-charged polymer was first coated onto LN. The number of polymer chains per LN was evaluated at 1210 by XPS and confirmed by fluorescence titration. Then, the surface coverage percentage of AuSeeds onto LN was estimated to a maximum of 30% using ICP-AES. The addition of AuSeeds was also accompanied with surface charge reversal, the negative charge increasing with the higher amount of AuSeeds. Finally, the first hyperpolarizability decreased with the increase of AuSeeds density while depolarization values for Au-seeded LN were close to the one of bare LN, showing a predominance of the second harmonic volumic contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase-pure, highly crystalline sub-50 nm LiNbO3 nanocrystals were prepared from a non-aqueous solvothermal process for 72 h at 230 °C and a commercial precursor solution of mixed lithium niobium ethoxide in its parent alcohol. A systematic variation of the reaction medium composition with the addition of different amounts of co-solvent including butanol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butanediol, and 1,5-pentanediol resulted in the formation of nanocrystals of adjustable mean size and shape anisotropy, as demonstrated from XRD measurements and TEM imaging. Colloidal stability of ethanol- and water-based suspensions was evaluated from dynamic light scattering (DLS)/zeta potential studies and correlated with FTIR data. Thanks to the evolution in the nanocrystal size and shape distribution we observed, as well as to the available literature on the alkoxide chemistry, the reaction pathways and growth mechanisms were finally discussed with a special attention on the monomer formation rate, leading to the nucleation step. The polar, non-perovskite crystalline structure of LiNbO3 was also evidenced to play a major role in the nanocrystal shape anisotropy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis and characterization of anhydrous LiZn(IO3)3 powders prepared from an aqueous solution are reported. Morphological and compositional analyses were carried out by using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray measurements. The synthesized powders exhibited a needle-like morphology after annealing at 400 °C. A crystal structure for the synthesized compound was proposed from powder X-ray diffraction and density-functional theory calculations. Rietveld refinements led to a monoclinic structure, which can be described with space group P21, number 4, and unit-cell parameters a = 21.874(9) Å, b = 5.171(2) Å, c = 5.433(2) Å, and β = 120.93(4)°. Density-functional theory calculations supported the same crystal structure. Infrared spectra were also collected, and the vibrations associated with the different modes were discussed. The non-centrosymmetric space group determined for this new polymorph of LiZn(IO3)3, the characteristics of its infrared absorption spectrum, and the observed second-harmonic generation suggest it is a promising infrared non-linear optical material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]