An-Najah Staff

Herein, we describe the first report on a new class of disk-shaped and quite monodisperse water-soluble nanomaterials that we named glyconanosomes (GNS). GNSs were obtained by sliding out the cylindrical structures formed upon self-organization and photopolymerization of glycolipid 1 on single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) sidewalls. GNSs present a sheltered hydrophobic inner cavity formed by the carbonated tails, surrounded by PEG and lactose moieties. The amphiphilic character of GNSs allows the water solubility of insoluble hydrophobic cargos such as a perylene-bisimide derivative, [60]fullerene, or the anti-carcinogenic drug camptothecin (CPT). GNS/C60 inclusion complexes are able to establish specific interactions between peanut agglutinin (PNA) lectin and the lactose moiety surrounding the complexes, while CPT solubilized by GNS shows higher cytotoxicity toward MCF7-type breast cancer cells than CPT alone. Thus, GNS represents an attractive extension of nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems.

In fibrous nano-composites, slip of fillers within the matrix comprises a major mechanism through which energy is dissipated. In the current study, a simplified model for predicting the elastic hysteresis of perfectly aligned unidirectional nano-composites loaded in the direction of the fibers is developed. The model, based on shear lag analysis and derived from basic principles of continuum micromechanics, incorporates a shear stick-slip constitutive law at the matrix–fiber interface. Once calibrated by comparison to cyclic stress–strain curves on nano-composites, the model is used to conduct a set of parametric studies on the influence of various parameters on the energy dissipation. Simulation results reveal that the interfacial shear stick-slip constitutive law, the volume fraction andthe aspect ratio of the fibers, and the fiber-to-matrix stiffness ratio have a direct influence on the hysteresis of nano-composites. Also, it is demonstrated that it is possible to achieve an optimal set of parameters for which energy dissipation due to hysteresis is maximized. The proposed model provides a numerically efficient yet reasonably accurate alternative for use in design and analysis of fibrous composites when compared to existing complex models.