Opportunities and risks for human health and the environment in relation to the manufacture, use and disposal of synthetic nanomaterials need to be better understood.
The Swiss National Research Programme "Opportunities and Risks of Nanomaterials" (NRP 64) hopes to be able to bridge the gaps in our current knowledge on nanomaterials.
Publication charges for this collection were funded by the Swiss National Science
Foundation. Articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process.
LiCoO2 is one of the most used cathode materials in Li-ion batteries. Its conventional synthesis requires high temperature (>800 °C) and long heating time (>24 h) to obtain the micronscale rhombohedral layered hi...
Nanomedicine offers a promising tool for therapies of brain diseases, but potential effects on neuronal health and neuronal differentiation need to be investigated to assess potential risks. The aim of this st...
Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are key drivers for the development of highly sophisticated new technologies. As all new attainments, the rapidly increasing used of ENMs raise concerns about their safety for t...
Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are widely applied and can, upon use, be released into the aquatic environment. This raises concerns about potential impacts of AgNP on aquatic organisms. We here present a side by ...
Composite materials with fibrous reinforcement often provide superior mechanical, thermal, electrical and optical properties than the matrix. Asbestos, carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been widel...
Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) offer site-specific delivery, deposition and cellular uptake due to their unique physicochemical properties and were shown to modulate immune responses. The respiratory tract wit...
Several forms of nanocellulose, notably cellulose nanocrystals and nanofibrillated cellulose, exhibit attractive property matrices and are potentially useful for a large number of industrial applications. Thes...
We investigated the particles released due to abrasion of wood surfaces pressure-treated with micronized copper azole (MCA) wood preservative and we gathered preliminary data on its in vitro cytotoxicity for l...
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as promising alternative to conventional cancer treatments works by irradiation of a photosensitizer (PS) with light, which creates reactive oxygen species and singlet oxygen (1O2), tha...
Photosensitizers are used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) to destruct tumor cells, however, their limited solubility and specificity hampers routine use, which may be overcome by encapsulation. Several promising...
The development of nano-materials is viewed as one of the most important technological advances of the 21st century and new applications of nano-sized particles in the production, processing, packaging or stor...
Agricultural soils represent a potential sink for increasing amounts of different nanomaterials that nowadays inevitably enter the environment. Knowledge on the relation between their actual exposure concentra...
Nanoparticles are produced and used worldwide and are released to the environment, e.g., into soil systems. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and cerium dioxide (CeO2) NPs are a...
The use of gold nanoparticles (Au-NP) based medical applications is rising due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Diagnostic devices based on Au-NP are already available in the market or are in ...
Recent studies report promising results regarding extracorporeal magnetic separation-based blood purification for the rapid and selective removal of disease-causing compounds from whole blood. High molecular w...