@article {47720,
	title = {Amphifunctional mesoporous silica nanoparticles with {\textquoteleft}{\textquoteleft}molecular gates{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} for controlled drug uptake and release},
	journal = {Particle \& Particle Systems Characterization},
	volume = {38},
	year = {2021},
	month = {DEC},
	pages = {2100185},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {It is demonstrated that the uptake and release of hydrophobic drugs/dyes by mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) is critically dependent on the functional groups present on their outer surfaces. For this, amphifunctional MSNs are synthesized, possessing hydrophobic pores and hydrophilic functional groups on the outer surface. Further, the outer surface is modified with a different chain length of molecules, e.g., propargyl alcohol, triethylene glycol, and PEG (2000) via azide-alkyne click chemistry. The effect of these different surface functional groups on uptake of drug/dye is demonstrated with Nile red, proflavine (free base form), and rhodamine 6G. The uptake of these molecules is found to be inversely proportional to the bulkiness of surface functionality. To counter this effect, an alternate method of loading is proposed and demonstrated. Finally, the effect of these different functional groups on the release of loaded drug proflavine is studied, which supports the hypothesis that bulkier outer surface groups also hinder the release of drugs loaded in the porous MSN.},
	keywords = {drug delivery and release, Mesoporous silica, molecular gating, surface functionalization},
	issn = {0934-0866},
	doi = {10.1002/ppsc.202100185},
	author = {Shinde, Pravin and Prasad, V, Bhagavatula L.}
}
@article {47728,
	title = {Lamellar bimetallic thiolates: synthesis, characterization, and their utilization for the preparation of bimetallic chalcogenide nanocrystals through mechanochemical grinding},
	journal = {Advanced Materials Interfaces},
	volume = {8},
	year = {2021},
	month = {DEC},
	pages = {2100898},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {Thiolates of single metal ions are known to exist as lamellar structures in the neat state and some of these metal thiolates can be delaminated into individual molecular sheets simply by adding a nonpolar organic solvent. It is established here that even bimetallic thiolates such as copper-indium thiolate and silver-indium thiolate exist as lamellar sheets. Each of these sheets consists of both metal ions arranged in a random fashion. It is also demonstrated that these bimetallic thiolates can be employed as single source precursors to prepare phase pure bimetallic chalcogenide nanocrystals (NCs) through mechanochemical routes by grinding them with an appropriate chalcogenide source. Notably, these bimetallic chalcogenide NCs, though synthesized in the absence of any solvent, get easily dispersed in nonpolar solvents as their surface is protected by the thiolate molecules released during the grinding process. These ternary NCs display a strong and tunable photoluminescence in the visible to near-infrared region. Based on detailed systematic studies it is concluded that to obtain phase pure bimetallic sulfide/selenide NCs bimetallic thiolates, consisting of both metal ions in each sheet, must be used as single source precursors and physical mixtures of individual thiolates do not afford such phase pure materials.},
	keywords = {bimetallic chalcogenide nanocrystals, bimetallic thiolate, mechanochemical grinding},
	issn = {2196-7350},
	doi = {10.1002/admi.202100898},
	author = {Bera, Abhijit and Pathak, Sushil S. and Kotha, Vishal and Prasad, V, Bhagavatula L.}
}
@article {47658,
	title = {Synthesis of anisotropic rod-like gold nanostructures in organic media},
	journal = {Journal of Chemical Sciences},
	volume = {133},
	year = {2021},
	month = {DEC},
	pages = {106},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {Synthesis of anisotropic rod-like gold nanostructures was carried out in chloroform employing a modified ascorbic acid derivative as a reducing agent in the presence and absence of seed particles. The seed particles and/or the chloroaurate ions were phase transferred to the organic media using n-octadecyl amine. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis clearly revealed that the anisotropic structures are single crystalline in nature. The stabilization of certain crystallographic faces of anisotropic gold nanostructures by amines is invoked to explain the formation of these structures.},
	issn = {0974-3626},
	doi = {10.1007/s12039-021-01952-z},
	author = {Prasad, V, Bhagavatula L. and Sivasankaran, Prathap Chandran and Patel, Pitambar and Malekar, V, Pushpa and Maya, V, K. and Ramana, V, Chepuri}
}
