Nanoparticles and nanopores of iron oxide were synthesized by electrochemical anodization, in an electrolytic medium of ammonium fluoride (NH4F), deionized water and ethylene glycol. After anodization, the Fe foils were annealed at 450 °C for 2 hours. Different anodization times and two concentrations of NH4F (0.1 M and 1.2 M) were evaluated, under static conditions at room temperature. Scanning Electron Microscopy showed nanopores (0.1 M) and nanoparticles (1.2 M). Eight vibration modes characteristic of α-Fe2O3 were found with Raman spectroscopy technique. Relationship between the modes Eu(LO) and 2Eu(LO) was found, therefore, their association with the disorder in the crystalline structure can be determined and it was also found that 2Eu(LO) intensity mode at a concentration of 1.2 M is larger than 0.1 M nanostructures, the FWHM of the A1g mode at 227 cm-1 corresponding to the Fe3+ ions and the Eg at 293 cm-1 mode caused by the O2- ions was also analyzed and founded that the crystalline structure of hematite can be determined by the A1g mode at 227 cm-1.

In this work, the anodization of grade 2 titanium was performed using a HCl-based electrolyte in order to obtain Titania nanostructures. Different glycerol concentrations were added to the HCl electrolyte to study the effect it has on the shape and density of the nanostructures, additionally, anodization time and voltage was also varied. The anodized samples were observed by SEM microscopy and studied by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Raman spectroscopy and XRD showed the formation of the anatase phase of the TiO2. By SEM it was possible to observe several changes in the shape of the structures, by adding glycerol ball-like structures were visible, anodization time did not change the shape of the nanostructures. However, the voltage variation showed a clear control on the shape of the structures, forming nanotubes at higher voltages. It was concluded that a better control of the shape and density of the nanostructures is achieved by adding glycerol, however, in order to overcome the resistance that the electrolyte brings, higher voltages are required.

The dysfunctional metabolism of glucose in cancer cells represents a new avenue for cancer targeting based on sugar-derived carriers. Here, glucose-derived carbon spheres (CS) were prepared through a simple hydrothermal method, yielding highly homogenous spherical particles that exhibited excellent stability in aqueous solution. The abundant presence of surface hydroxyl functionalities was used for a subsequent condensation of an amino silane that was the basis for further covalent coupling strategies. CS were modified with a cyclooctyne derivative providing a highly selective binding site for copper-free click reactions. Moreover, the surface modification of CS with a dye-label allowed for their intracellular detection revealing a preferential uptake of CS, compared to silica particles, in tumor cells. These results thus demonstrate the highly promising potential of glucose-derived particles for tumor targeting applications and their efficient surface modification.

Biodegradable material was prepared from cassava starch in combination with zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) to give the properties of microbial growth resistance, glycerin concentrations were varied to 5%, 10%, and 20% (w/v) for the study of the rheological properties. The nanoparticles were characterized by a spectrophotometer where an exciton peak at 370 nm was obtained. The different samples were subjected to a thermomechanical study through an AR-G2 hybrid rheometer, using a parallel plane geometry of 20 mm, a weak gel behavior is observed, it is a slimming material and it is thermostable, it is also established that the zinc oxide concentration nanoparticles do not affect the mechanical behavior of the material.

The present work is aimed to study a comparison among synthesized graphene films, deposited on copper substrates and commercial graphene films; both decorated with Eu2O3 particles, with the purpose of promoting photoluminescence. The decoration procedure was achieved using the radio frequency sputtering (R.F. Sputtering) technique for the deposition of Eu2O3 on synthesized or commercial graphene films. The SEM obtained images, show differences in morphology when commercial and synthesized graphene films are compared. Our results indicate that the type of surface is the main factor that accounts for the europium oxide spatial distribution that ultimately leads to luminescence enhancing. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, showed the trivalent oxidation state of europium and the atomic content of Europium for both; the commercial graphene film and synthesized one, where the first one presented the higher europium concentration. Analysis by Raman spectroscopy reveals that graphene films become disordered after the decoration is achieved. The main Raman bands of the commercial graphene films undergo a remarkable red shift, as a consequence of the presence of europium oxide It was observed that the interaction of Eu2O3 with the sp2 levels of graphene, improves the red photoluminescence of the samples grown on both, commercial and prepared graphene films.

It is well known the remarkable optical properties of both graphene and left handed materials, for which we study the optical properties of a multilayer system building by graphene-dielectric-left hand material. In this work, we show the transmission, reflection and absorption spectra for a different set of parameters of the left-handed material structure. It is important to highlight that the inclusion of graphene remarkably modifies the transmission and absorption spectra. The optical properties of the graphene-LHM can be modulated via the different parameters of system. We showed that the fill function do not change the line form of the spectra, however, modify their amplitudes. With respect to light polarization, it’s possible to observe that the spectra are widen for TM respect to TE polarization.

Different nanostructures such as: CuOH nanorods, CuO nanosheets and Cu2O nanograins were obtained by anodization approach at room temperature during times from 10 to 40 minutes. By scanning electron microscopy technique, it was found that Cu2O nanograins were formed at 10 minutes, CuO nanosheets vertically oriented on nanograins were observed at 20 and 30 minutes, and from 20 minutes CuOH nanorods with low vertical orientation on nanosheets were formed, coexisting the three types of nanostructures at the same system. In samples without thermal treatment were observed that Raman spectra of nanograins have a typical signal at 218 cm-1 associated to Cu2O, Raman spectra of nanosheets have signals at 287 and 630 cm-1 associated to CuO and Raman spectra of nanorods, it was observed that Raman spectrum is dominated by an intense signal associated to CuOH located around 488cm-1. In addition, after 3 hours of thermal treatment at 300 °C, the morphology was conserved, and the hydrogen-related compound decreased. Raman spectra of nanorods only presented a signal at 287 cm-1 associated to CuO whereas in nanosheets three peaks at 150, 218, 304 cm-1 associated to the Cu2O were observed.

CdSe nanoparticles were grown using a colloidal method, in which the pH was the main parameter that was varied (from 8 to 12) with the objective of knowing the morphological and structural effects after the synthesis process. The samples were characterized with X-ray diffraction and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope to know their crystalline structure. We identified the formation of two crystalline phases in a single sample, as well as the different crystal direction of the material, the crystallites size was calculated from the X-ray diffraction pattern using the Debye- Scherrer equation. The distance between planes was also calculated using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). The results and analysis of the experimental work are reported.