Tag Archives: Francesco Zerbetto

Synthesizing a superfluorinated gold nanocluster with a core of 25 gold atoms,

A June 21, 2022 Politecnico di Milano press release (also on EurekAlert but published June 15, 2022) describes work that researchers believe could be instrumental in precision medicine and the production of ‘green’ hydrogen,

The SupraBioNano Lab (SBNLab) at the Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, in partnership with the University of Bologna and the Aalto University of Helsinki (Finland) has, for the first time, synthesised a superfluorinated gold nanocluster, made up of a core of only 25 gold atoms, to which 18 branch-structured fluorinated molecules are linked.

The metal clusters are an innovative class of very complex nanomaterial, characterised by ultra-small dimensions (<2nm) and peculiar chemical-physical properties such as luminescence and catalytic activity, which encourage its application in various scientific fields of high importance in relation to modern global challenges. These include precision medicine, in which metal nanoclusters are used as innovative probes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, and the energy transition, where they are applied as efficient catalysers for the production of green hydrogen.

The crystallisation of metal nanoclusters offers the possibility of obtaining high-purity samples, allowing their fine atomic structure to be determined; however, at present this remains a very difficult process to control. The methodologies developed in this study promoted the crystallisation of nanoclusters, allowing their atomic structure to be determined. The end result is the structural description of the most complex fluorinated nano-object ever reported.

The atomic structure has been determined by means of x-ray diffraction at the Sincrotrone Elettra in Trieste. It will soon be possible to study the structure of these advanced nanomaterials at the Politecnico di Milano, where – thanks also to the grant from the Region of Lombardy – Next-GAME (Next-Generation Advanced Materials), a laboratory dedicated to the use of state-of-the-art x-ray instruments to characterise crystals, nanoparticles and colloids, is being established.

Among the authors of the study were Prof. Pierangelo Metrangolo, Prof. Giancarlo Terraneo, Prof. Valentina Dichiarante, Prof. Francesca Baldelli Bombelli, Dr. Claudia Pigliacelli (SBNLab); professor Giulio Cerullo, from the Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Physics, also contributed to the study, looking at the nanocluster’s optical characteristics and demonstrating the fluorinated binders’ impact on the gold core’s optical activity.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

High-resolution crystal structure of a 20 kDa superfluorinated gold nanocluster by Claudia Pigliacelli, Angela Acocella, Isabel Díez, Luca Moretti, Valentina Dichiarante, Nicola Demitri, Hua Jiang, Margherita Maiuri, Robin H. A. Ras, Francesca Baldelli Bombelli, Giulio Cerullo, Francesco Zerbetto, Pierangelo Metrangolo & Giancarlo Terraneo. Nature Communications volume 13, Article number: 2607 (2022) DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29966-2 Published11 May 2022 DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29966-2

This paper is open access.

Colliding organic nanoparticles caught on camera for the first time

There is high excitement about this development in a November 17, 2017 news item on Nanowerk,

A Northwestern University research team is the first to capture on video organic nanoparticles colliding and fusing together. This unprecedented view of “chemistry in motion” will aid Northwestern nanoscientists developing new drug delivery methods as well as demonstrate to researchers around the globe how an emerging imaging technique opens a new window on a very tiny world.

A November 17, 2017 Northwestern University news release (also on EurekAlert) by Megan Fellman, which originated the news item, further illuminates the matter,

This is a rare example of particles in motion. The dynamics are reminiscent of two bubbles coming together and merging into one: first they join and have a membrane between them, but then they fuse and become one larger bubble.

“I had an image in my mind, but the first time I saw these fusing nanoparticles in black and white was amazing,” said professor Nathan C. Gianneschi, who led the interdisciplinary study and works at the intersection of nanotechnology and biomedicine.

“To me, it’s literally a window opening up to this world you have always known was there, but now you’ve finally got an image of it. I liken it to the first time I saw Jupiter’s moons through a telescope. Nothing compares to actually seeing,” he said.

Gianneschi is the Jacob and Rosaline Cohn Professor in the department of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and in the departments of materials science and engineering and of biomedical engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering.

The study, which includes videos of different nanoparticle fusion events, was published today (Nov. 1 [2017]7) by the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The research team used liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy to directly image how polymer-based nanoparticles, or micelles, that Gianneschi’s lab is developing for treating cancer and heart attacks change over time. The powerful new technique enabled the scientists to directly observe the particles’ transformation and characterize their dynamics.

“We can see on the molecular level how the polymeric matter rearranges when the particles fuse into one object,” said Lucas R. Parent, first author of the paper and a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow in Gianneschi’s research group. “This is the first study of many to come in which researchers will use this method to look at all kinds of dynamic phenomena in organic materials systems on the nanoscale.”

In the Northwestern study, organic particles in water bounce off each other, and some collide and merge, undergoing a physical transformation. The researchers capture the action by shining an electron beam through the sample. The tiny particles — the largest are only approximately 200 nanometers in diameter — cast shadows that are captured directly by a camera below.

“We’ve observed classical fusion behavior on the nanoscale,” said Gianneschi, a member of Northwestern’s International Institute for Nanotechnology. “Capturing the fundamental growth and evolution processes of these particles in motion will help us immensely in our work with synthetic materials and their interactions with biological systems.”

The National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Army Research Office supported the research.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Directly Observing Micelle Fusion and Growth in Solution by Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy by Lucas R. Parent, Evangelos Bakalis, Abelardo Ramírez-Hernández, Jacquelin K. Kammeyer, Chiwoo Park, Juan de Pablo, Francesco Zerbetto, Joseph P. Patterson, and Nathan C. Gianneschi. J. Am. Chem. Soc., Article ASAP DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09060 Publication Date (Web): November 17, 2017

Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.