Irina Atkinson

Institute of Physical Chemistry | ICF · Material Sciences

ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were prepared using the sol–gel method and deposited on a Silicon (Si(100)) substrate using the dipping technique. The structure, morphology, thickness, optical constants in the spectral range 300–1700 nm, bandgap (Eg) and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the films were analyzed using X-ray diffractometry (...

TiO2-activated carbon composites with mesoporous structure were prepared by sol-gel method using different titanium precursors (titanium tetraisopropoxide, tetraethyl orthotitanate) and surfactants (Brij 58 and activated carbon). Two different activated carbons (AC and ACP), obtained from ground coffee, were activated in different conditions with o...

Nanotechnology offers unlimited possibilities for creating effective hybrid materials, which combine functional performance in environment depollution and antimicrobial defense with a lack of toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and natural availability. This paper presents the silver effect on photocatalytic and antibacterial activities o...

Citation: Muşat, V.; Crintea, L.; Anghel, E.-M.; Stȃnicȃ, N.; Atkinson, I.; Culiţȃ, D.C.; Baroiu, L.; T , igȃu, N.; Cantaragiu Ceoromila, A.; Botezatu, A.-V.; et al. Ag-Decorated Iron Oxides-Silica Magnetic Nanocomposites with Antimicrobial and Photocatalytic Activity. Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 4452.

A multi-step ion-exchange methodology was developed for the fabrication of Cu(LaTa2O7)2 lamellar architectures capable of wastewater depollution. The (001) diffraction line of RbLaTa2O7 depended on the guest species hosted by the starting material. SEM and TEM images confirmed the well-preserved lamellar structure for all intercalated layered perov...

Zeolite Y and Ti-containing zeolite Y (1%, 2% and 5% TiO2) were synthesized by a hy-drothermal seed-assisted method. In order to evidence the evolution of morphology, structure, and fractal dimensions during the zeolitization process at certain time intervals, a small volume from the reaction medium was isolated and frozen by lyophilization. The ob...

Multidrug-resistant bacteria can lead to skin wound infections, pain and long-term treatment. The development of high-performance dressings for the treatment of infected skin wounds represents a necessary requirement. In this paper it was designed and synthesized adhesive hydrogel films containing active agents such as hyaluronic acid (HA) and lido...

The present study aims to demonstrate the influence of the polymer-carrier type and proportion on the quality performance of newly developed oral immediate-release tablets containing amiodarone solid dispersions obtained by hot-melt extrusion. Twelve solid dispersions including amiodarone and different polymers (PEG 1500, PEG 4000; PEG 8000, Solupl...

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequent oral malignancy, with a high death rate and an inadequate response to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs. Medical research explores plant extracts' properties to obtain potential nanomaterial-based anticancer drugs. The present study aims to formulate, develop, and characterize mucoadhesive...

New photocatalysts were obtained by immobilization of titanium and gold species on zeolite Y, hierarchical zeolite Y, MCM-48 and KIT-6 supports with microporous, hierarchical and mesoporous cubic structure. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2-physisorption, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM),...

One of the major clinical issues during the implantation procedure is the bacterial infections linked to biofilms. Due to their tissue localization and the type of bacteria involved, bacterial infections at implant sites are usually difficult to treat, which increases patient morbidity and even mortality. The difficulty of treating biofilm-associat...

The oral cavity’s common pathologies are tooth decay, periodontal disease, and oral cancer; oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequent oral malignancy, with a high mortality rate. Our study aims to formulate, develop, characterize, and pharmacologically investigate the oral mucoadhesive patches (F-UBE-HPMC) loaded with Usnea barbata (...

Medical research explores plant extracts’ properties to obtain potential anticancer drugs. The present study aims to formulate, develop, and characterize the bioadhesive oral films containing Usnea barbata (L.) dry ethanol extract (F-UBE-HPC) and to investigate their anticancer potential for possible use in oral cancer therapy. The physicochemical...

Usnea lichens are known for their beneficial pharmacological effects with potential applications in oral medicine. This study aims to investigate the extract of Usnea barbata (L.) Weber ex F.H. Wigg from the Călimani Mountains in canola oil as an oral pharmaceutical formulation. In the present work, bioadhesive oral films (F-UBO) with U. barbata ex...

The novelty in this study is the development of new orodispersible tablets containing nifedipine (NIF) as the active ingredient. Initially, the formation of inclusion complexes between nifedipine and two derivatives of beta-cyclodextrin, namely, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and methyl-β-cyclodextrin (Me-β-CD), was established. Inclusion c...

The effect of gel preparation and heat treatment on the structural and optical properties of SiO2-ZnO materials prepared by the sol–gel method was investigated. Zinc acetate dehydrate, TEOS (tetraethylortosilicate), ethanol, distillated water and HCl were used as a starting material, solvent and catalyst, respectively. Four powders (G1–G4) were pre...

Recently the emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere have increased dramatically with rapid development of urbanization and industry. This led to a large decline in air quality around the world, which resulted in a heavy impact on human health. Therefore, new/cheap detection devices for VOCs are of high interest. Formaldehy...

In this paper, we investigate what effects heat treatment can have on potentiodynamically electrodeposited high-entropy thin film (HEA) CoCrFeMnNi alloys. We focused our study on the corrosion resistance in synthetic seawater, corroborated with the structure and microstructure of these thin films. Thin films of HEA alloys were deposited on a copper...

This study aims to investigate zircon (ZrSiO4) formation during thermal treatment and its influence on the structure and properties of the ceramic glazes. Four raw ceramic glazes with the addition of 5, 9, 13, and 17 wt% of ZrO2 (<5 μm) at the expense of SiO2 were prepared by the ceramic traditional route. To obtain homogeneous melting and conseque...

The development of new orally dispersible tablets containing amlodipine (AML) inclusion complexes in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and in methyl-β-cyclodextrin (Me-β-CD) was studied. The methods of obtaining amlodipine and the physical and chemical properties of the inclusion complexes using the two cyclodextrins was investigated separatel...

In this study, three novel magnetic nanocomposites based on carboxyl-functionalized SBA-15 silica and magnetite nanoparticles were prepared through an effective and simple procedure and applied for methylene blue (MB) and malachite green G (MG) adsorption from single and binary solutions. Structure, composition, morphology, magnetic, and textural p...

Knowledge of the crystallization stability of bioactive glasses (BGs) is a key factor in developing porous scaffolds for hard tissue engineering. Thus, the crystallization behavior of three mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) in the 70SiO2-(26-x)CaO-4P2O5-xCeO2 system (x stands for 0, 1 and 5 mol. %, namely MBG(0/1/5)Ce), prepared using the sol–gel...

Finding innovative solutions to improve the lives of people affected by trauma, bone disease, or aging continues to be a challenge worldwide. Tissue engineering is the most rapidly growing area in the domain of biomaterials. Cerium-containing MBG-derived biomaterials scaffolds were synthesized using polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as a sacrificial t...

A facile, green synthesis methodology to obtain zinc oxide nanoparticles using three polysaccharide gums (Acacia gum, Guar gum and Xanthan gum) of biological origin was developed. Subsequently, biosynthesized zinc oxide nanoparticles were incorporated into a sustainable chitosan hydrogel matrix functionalized with propolis extract. This study has r...

Muierilor Cave is one of Romania’s most important show caves, with paleontological and archeological deposits. Recently, a new chamber was discovered in the cave, with unique yellow calcite crystals, fine-grained crusts, and black sediments. The deposits in this chamber were related to a leaking process from the upper level that contains fossil bon...

In recent years, iron oxides-based nanostructured composite materials are of particular interest for the preparation of multifunctional thin films and membranes to be used in sustainable magnetic field adsorption and photocatalysis processes, intelligent coatings, and packing or bio-medical applications. In this paper, superparamagnetic iron oxide...

Self-assembled ZnO-alginate hierarchical spherical morphologies have been built up through a total green hydrothermal procedure using sodium alginate (SA) and triethanolamine (TEA) as templates. A simple modification of raw materials addition order allows the optimization of materials properties through the successful exploitation of two peculiarit...

(1) Background: In time, stone monuments suffer a process of aging and loss of aesthetic and mechanical properties. In order to restore and stop the loss of their properties, various treatments are used, and in this context, a new class of discovered materials with interesting properties are layered double hydroxides or LDHs. (2) Methods: The LDHs,...

The aim of the present study was to manufacture new orally disintegrating tablets containing nimodipine–hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and nimodipine–methyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes. For obtaining a better quality of the manufactured tablets, three methods of the preparation of inclusion complexes, in a 1:1 molar ratio, were used comparativ...

The present work provides a new approach to the water denitration process and a facile strategy of catalyst preparation for the efficient hydrogen generation. The main focus of the research reported here was nitrate removal from aqueous solutions and simultaneous hydrogen generation under UV-Vis-light irradiation. This is a very important aspect in...

One of the current research objectives is the development of new films for the conservation of glass heritage objects. The value of historical glass objects is given by the technology and raw materials used in production as well as their transparency and color. Their colors are correlated with oxide composition rich in transitional metals, which de...

A sort of low density polyethylene (LDPE) was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal analysis methods (TG, DTG, DTA) in nitrogen flow at constant heating rates of 2.50, 5.00, 9.91, 14.98 and 19.92 K min⁻¹ and at other five temperature programs, coupled TG + FTIR analysis, and DSC analysis in nitrogen flo...

In recent years, the rising number of bone diseases which affect millions of people worldwide has led to an increased demand for materials with restoring and augmentation properties that can be used in therapies for bone pathologies. In this work, PMMA- MBG composite scaffolds containing ceria (0, 1, 3 mol%) were obtained by the phase separation me...

Developing multifunctional systems for the biomimetic remineralization of human enamel is a challenging task, since hydroxyapatite (HAP) rod structures of tooth enamel are difficult to replicate artificially. The paper presents the first report on the simultaneous use of chitosan (CS) and agarose (A) in a biopolymer-based hydrogel for the biomimeti...

Structural and functional changes induced by TiO2 addition to spherical zinc selenide together with lysozyme adsorption lead to valuable bioinorganic catalysts with enhanced activity. Spherical zinc selenide and its composite with TiO2 were obtained by hydrothermal method and subsequently modified by lysozyme adsorption. Morphological, structural...

Due to its low solubility, carbamazepine (CBZ) exhibits slow and incomplete release in the gastrointestinal tract and, hence, variable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effect. Lots of methods have been devised to improve its solubility, the large number of proposed solutions being a sign that the problem is not yet satisfactorily solved. The pe...

Several FeTi-SBA15 magnetic nanocomposites were synthesized using different titanium precursors and synthesis methods. The obtained materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2-adsorption/desorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), Raman, UV-Vis and X-ra...

A series of PtCeTi-SBA-15 catalysts, with different concentrations of Pt (0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0 %), were synthesized. New Ti-SBA-15 material was obtained by direct synthesis and used as support in successive immobilization of Pt and Ce precursors, changing their order of addition. The characterization of the catalysts has been achieved taking an ensembl...

Antireflection coatings have been widely used to increase the absorption of solar collectors and to reduce surface reflection. Many techniques have been explored to prepare thin coatings, such as sputtering, chemical etching, chemical vapour deposition, and sol-gel method. SiO 2 -ZnO coatings were prepared on the surface of glass substrates via the...

In this paper, multi-walled carbon nanotubes have been prepared at low synthesis temperatures and without high pressure by a simple chemical route. Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis was used to determine the purity of the synthetized compound. Also, by transmission electron microscopy and a...

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a sodium channel blocker that has been recommended. [...]

Knowledge from materials science can be used to design systems that target specific issues in the conservation of cultural heritage, such as cleaning, consolidation, and anion removal. Layered double hydroxides are a group of anionic clays that have several properties of interest in the field of heritage conservations, one of them being the propert...

Knowledge from materials science can be used to design systems that target specific issues in the conservation of cultural heritage, such as cleaning, consolidation, and anion removal. Layered double hydroxides are a group of anionic clays that have several properties of interest in the field of heritage conservations, one of them being the propert...

Knowledge from materials science can be used to design systems that target specific issues in [...]

Titanium dioxide, TiO2, plays an important role due to its catalytic properties and high chemical [...]

Zeolites are very useful supports for synthesis of catalysts. Many of these materials with [...]

Knowledge from materials science can be used to design systems that target specific issues in the conservation of cultural heritage, such as cleaning, consolidation, and anion removal. Layered double hydroxides are a group of anionic clays that have several properties of interest in the field of heritage conservations, one of them being the propert...

Mn, Ni and Cu cobaltite spinels were synthesized by coprecipitation, characterized and evaluated in the total oxidation of methane. To gain a deeper insight into their catalytic behavior, their electrical conductivity was studied as a function of temperature and oxygen partial pressure, and was followed with time during sequential exposures to diff...

Captopril is the first angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitor widely used for the treatment of hypertension. Based on the well-known benefits of cyclodextrin inclusion complexes, the present study investigated the ability of β-cyclodextrin to include captopril. Solid inclusion complexes of captopril with β–cyclodextrin in a 1:2 molar ratio were...

The loss of porosity on heating above 500 °C for mesoporous silica materials such as SBA-15 limits some of their high temperature applications. 40% wt. CeO2 nanoparticles were encapsulated into SBA-15 in this study through molten cerium (III) nitrate impregnation and calcination. The thermal behavior of the ceria containing mesoporous silica was in...

We have explored an efficient strategy to enhance the overall photocatalytic performances of layered perovskites by increasing the density of hydroxyl group by protonation. The experimental procedure consisted of the slow replacement of interlayer Rb+ cation of RbLaTa2O7 Dion-Jacobson (DJ) perovskite by H+ via acid treatment. Two layered perovskite...

The novel Al2O3 / NiCrAlY /alfa2-Ti3Al system obtained by APS technique was tested against long (500h) isothermal oxidation at 850�C in air for prospective use in aerospace applications. EDX-SEM, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman investigations were conducted to substantiate structural, textural and mass gain modifications underwent by the Al2O3 /...

In the literature data, several papers reported the synthesis by various chemical or physical methods of the SrCu2O2 (SCO) having possible applications in thermoelectric or completely electronic devices such as solar cells, liquid crystal displays and touch screen. A great challenge is represented by the formation of the pure SrCu2O2 (SCO), due to...

This paper reports bond coating/substrate interface evolution during isothermal oxidation tests at 850 °C up to 500 h in air of the Ni17Cr4Fe3.5B4SiC coating deposited on a Ti3Al substrate by high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying. The microstructure of the Ni17Cr4Fe3.5B4SiC/Ti3Al system was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spe...

In the present contribution, the study of nanostuctured powders of Mn²⁺-doped ZnO with different doping concentration (1, 2, 5 at%) was approached. The samples were synthesized by sol–gel method, and the influence of the Mn content on the thermal behavior of the resulted gels was established by thermogravimetric and thermodifferential analysis. Bas...

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) coated with biopolymers are already known for their enormous benefits, as a pharmaceutical matrix, in the medical and pharmaceutical fields. Here, we report the preparation of two types of hybrid matrices, containing SBA-15-MSNs covered with mucilaginous polysaccharides extracted from Althaea officinalis foliu...

Bone defects due to trauma or diseases causing bone loss have led to an increased demand for new materialsthat have applications in therapies for bone pathologies. Mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), based on 70-SiO⁠2-(26-x)CaO 4P⁠2O⁠5-xCeO⁠2 (x=0, 1 and 5mol % for MBGS, MBGS1Ce and MBGS5Ce) were synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly (E...

Nowadays, multifunctional materials are of high interest due to their ability to be used in different applications by controlling one or two parameters (e.g., morphology and/or dopant). Zinc oxide is an intensive-studied material because of its large usability. Recently, we have shown that the conduction, transparency, and charge carrier concentrat...

Supplimentary material of the paper: "I. Atkinson, E.M. Anghel, S. Petrescu, A. M. Seciu, L. M. Stefan, O.C. Mocioiu, L. Predoana, M. Voicescu, S. Somacescu, D. Culita and M. Zaharescu, Cerium-containing mesoporous bioactive glasses: Material characterization, in vitro bioactivity, biocompatibility and cytotoxicity, evaluation, Microporous and Meso...

The aim of the paper is to obtain nanocomposites based on magnesium oxide and metal nanoparticles, as well as to establish the influence of the preparation methods on the properties and photocatalytic activity of these materials. Magnesium oxide was obtained by two preparation methods namely precipitation and combustion synthesis. The obtained samp...

ZnO materials with spherical morphology, core-shell and solid, disperse or interconnected, were obtained by a completely green synthesis via a carbohydrate-template route. Morphology, structure and optical properties, as well as antimicrobial potential and cytocompatibility were investigated. The antimicrobial efficiency of the obtained materials w...