Souad Merah

Souad Merah
Paris Diderot University | UP7 · Interfaces, Traitements, Organisation et Dynamique des Systèmes (ITODYS) UMR 7086

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263
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Publications

Publications (263)
Article
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Current biomedical imaging techniques are vital for the diagnosis of various diseases. They are related to the development of multimodal probes encompassing all the functionalities required for comprehensive imaging. In this context, we applied a simple and reproducible wet synthesis route to produce such probes. This method allowed us to prepare a...
Article
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Self-doped CuS nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized via microwave-assisted polyol process to act as co-catalysts to TiO2 nanofiber (NF)-based photoanodes to achieve higher photocurrents on visible light-assisted water electrolysis. The strategy adopted to perform the copper cation sulfidation in polyol allowed us to overcome the challe...
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With the increasing integration of nanomaterials into daily life, the potential ecotoxicological impacts of nanoparticles (NPs) have attracted increased attention from the scientific community. This study assessed the ecotoxicity of ZnS quantum dots (QDs) doped with varying molar concentrations of Mn2+ on Chlorella vulgaris. The ZnS:Mn QDs were syn...
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The present work focuses on valorizing the various biochar supports of nano-catalysts and investigates the effect of the type of the initial biomass on the deposition and salient physico-chemical features of the zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles. In this regard, we have used four different biomasses, namely, sugarcane bagasse ( Saccharum officinarum )...
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This study focuses on metal/polymer nanocomposite thin films made by atmospheric pressure Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition. The aerosol of isopropanol-dissolved tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl4:3H2O gold salt) is injected in a dielectric barrier discharge to synthesize plasmonic nanocomposite thin films. Argon is used as carrier gas with or w...
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The design of dual‐mode fluorescence and Raman tags stimulates a growing interest in biomedical imaging and sensing applications as they offer the possibility to synergistically combine the versatility and velocity of fluorescence imaging with the specificity of Raman spectroscopy. Although lanthanide‐doped fluoride nanoparticles (NPs) are among th...
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SrCo0.2Zn0.2Fe11.6O18.8 hexaferrite was obtained by a “one-pot” green sol-gel synthesis method utilizing aqueous mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) peel extract as an eco-friendly reactant. The research objective was to analyze the influence of cobalt and zinc co-doping and the synthesis process on the structure, morphology, magnetic, dielectric a...
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The ability to construct three-dimensional architectures via nanoscale engineering is important for emerging applications in sensors, catalysis, controlled drug delivery, microelectronics, and medical diagnostics nanotechnologies. Because of their well-defined and highly organized symmetric structures, viral plant capsids provide a 3D scaffold for...
Article
The effect of pyrolysis temperature on biochar properties is more exacerbated when combined with the presence of metallic dopants on the surface of the lignocellulosic material. Herein, we investigate the relationship between the surface composition (SC), the graphitization degree (GD), the particle size (PS) and the catalytic activity of mandarin...
Article
N-doped carbon quantum dots/Zn0.4Co0.6Fe2O4 (N-CQDs/ZnCF) composite was successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method. XRD, HR-TEM, UV–Vis/DRS, PL, and XPS were used to characterize the synthesized nanoparticles. The band gap energies of the synthesized nanomaterials were found to be less than 2 eV. PL results confirmed improved separation effi...
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The effect of doping of Co²⁺ and Sn⁴⁺ in Ba0.5Sr0.5Fe12-2xO19 hexaferrite with different concentrations (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0) was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), complex impedance spectroscopy, and analyzed as a dielectric resonating antenna (DRA) at room temperature. The samples were produced and...
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Biochar-supported nanocatalysts emerged as unique materials for environmental remediation. Herein, sugarcane pulp bagasse (SCPB) was wet-impregnated with Cu(NO3)23H2O and Ni(NO3)26H2O, then pyrolyzed at 500 °C, under N2, for 1 h. We specifically focused on sugarcane pulp instead of SCB and biochar materials. The metal nitrate to biomass ratio was s...
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According to the World Health Organization, the number of cancers (all cancers, both sexes, all ages and worldwide) in 2020 reached a total of 19 292 789 new cases leading to 9 958 133 deaths during the same period. Many cancers could be cured if detected early. Preventing cancer and detecting it early are two essential strategies for controlling t...
Preprint
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With the wide use of nanomaterials in our daily life, the potential ecotoxicology effect of nanoparticles (NPs) has attracted more and more attention from researchers. Here, the ZnS:Mn (0.5%, 2.0%, 4.0% and 10% of Mn, in mol) QDs were synthesized using the polyol method, and the toxicity mechanism was investigated by contacting the microalgae Chlor...
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Temperature- and humidity-sensing properties were evaluated of NixMg1-x spinel ferrites (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) synthesized by a sol-gel combustion method using citric acid as fuel and nitrate ions as oxidizing agents. After the exothermic reaction, amorphous powders were calcined at 700 °C followed by characterization with XRD, FTIR, XPS, EDS and Raman spectr...
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The conversion processes of sugarcane into direct-consumption sugar and juice are generating a tremendous amount of waste, the so-called sugarcane bagasse (SCB). Biochar preparation is among the practical solutions aiming to manage and valorize SCB into high added-value functional material (FM). Herein, we propose a novel zero-waste pathway to fabr...
Article
Cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFNPs) have been synthesized using a one-pot-polyol method in the presence of different organic mediums as refluxing solvents. The synthesized CFNPs stability, magnetic property, particle size, and structural variations were characterized using high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunau...
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The aim of the present work is to valorise the brewing industry’s waste, i.e., brewer’s spent grain (BSG), into functional biocarbon for environmental catalysis applications. In this context, cost-effective and environmentally friendly biochar support coated with in-situ-generated Ag-Cu nanocrystals, was developed via the wet impregnation of BSG bi...
Article
Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (MNPs) were functionalized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to give APTES@Fe2O3 (AMNP) which was then reacted with diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) to give a nanohybrid DTPA-APTES@Fe2O3 (DAMNP). Nano-isothermal titration calorimetry shows that DTPA complexation with uranyl ions in water is exothe...
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There is an ever‐growing demand for biochar production and its chemical transformation into specialty materials. Herein, we suggest a versatile method to elaborate Ag/Cu nanoparticles, by phytochemical process, on aryl‐sulfonated sugarcane bagasse pulp‐derived biochar. A binary nanocomposite has been fabricated through a four‐step strategy. The raw...
Article
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The present work is based on the principle of biomass waste valorization. Brewer’s spent grains (BSG) come from breweries as by-products. Their huge amount of production on an industrial scale should focus our attention on their valorization, which creates challenges as well as opportunities. One way to valorize BSG by-products is to convert them i...
Article
Among the photocatalysts which could be used for converting solar energy, polyoxometalates are often regarded as ideal candidates because of their remarkable performances in photocatalytic water splitting and photodegradation of pollutants. Nonetheless, these polyanions are only capable of absorbing UV light, unless coupled to a visible-light photo...
Preprint
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Agrowaste-derived materials for the supporting of nanocatalysts is attracting a great attention due to the abundance and the physicochemical features they provide as bio-sourced underlying materials. The main idea is built around the conversion of junk material into functional material, a journey of waste from "trash to treasure". Herein, we sugges...
Preprint
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Valorization of agro-wastes into high performance functional materials is a topic that is receiving growing interest. Agro-wastes could be converted into biochar by slow pyrolysis and could be even given high added value by in situ deposition of nanoparticles. Herein, we investigate for the first time the impregnation of copper and nickel nitrates...
Preprint
Full-text available
The conversion processes of sugarcane into direct-consumption sugar and juice are generating a tremendous amount of waste, the so-called sugarcane bagasse. Biochar preparation is among the practical solutions aiming to valorize this agrowaste and make it of a high added value functional material (FM). Herein, we propose a novel zero-waste pathway w...
Article
Full-text available
Immobilization of nanocatalysts on biochar is receiving unprecedented interest among material and catalysis scientists due to its simplicity, versatility, and high efficiency. Herein, we propose a new direct approach to obtain bimetallic copper/nickel nanoparticles loaded on olive stone biochar. The bimetallic-coated biochar and the reference mater...
Preprint
Biochar is a carbon allotrope obtained by pyrolysis of biomass, usually agro-waste. Owing to the demand for sustainable development, biochar is continuously raising much hope in the scientific community. However, in order to impart it with new properties, its modification is required, either in situ during pyrolysis, or after the carbonization proc...
Article
By exploiting the configuration of an alternate-current thin-film electroluminescent device, we observe the emission of light from a close-packed spin-cast layer of manganese-doped zinc sulfide nanoparticles (NPs), sandwiched between two dielectric layers, induced by the application of an AC voltage. By means of a microwave-assisted polyol synthesi...
Article
Iron doped zinc sulfide (Fe:ZnS) thin films are synthesized by chemical bath deposition (CBD). Fe dopant concentrations are 0, 6, 12 and 18 at.-%. Chemical study is monitored by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to determine the exact composition. According to the XRF analysis, we found stoichiometric composition for the undoped film. Neverthel...
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Carbon dots (CDs) are carbon-based nanoparticles (NPs) displaying remarkable light-harvesting properties. In this work, we have investigated for the first time the possibility to use CDs to photosensitize polyoxometalates (POMs). For this purpose, we have thus engineered positively charged carbon dots allowing electrostatic interactions with anioni...
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We report the effect of a polyol-mediated annealing on nickel ferrite nanoparticles. By combining X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry, we showed that whereas the as-prepared nanoparticles (NFO) are stoichiometric, the annealed ones (a-NFO) are not, since Ni0-based crystals precipitate. Nickel depletio...
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In this study, polyol-made CdS and CdSe crystalline nanoparticles (NPs) are loaded by impregnation on TiO2 nanotube arrays (TNTAs) for solar-simulated light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water vapor splitting. For the first time, we introduce a safe way to utilize toxic, yet efficient photocatalysts by integration in solid-state PEC (SSPEC) cel...
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Developing micro- and nanomaterials for environmental pollution remediation is currently a pertinent topic. Among the plethora of strategies, designing supported nanocatalysts for the degradation of pollutants has achieved prominence. In this context, we are addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by valorizing agrowaste as a source...
Article
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) thin films are prepared by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method on glass substrates. The effect of molybdenum (Mo) doping concentration on chemical composition, structural, morphological, optical and luminescence properties of zinc sulfide thin films is investigated. Chemical composition study by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) confirm...
Article
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) films elaborated by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique on glass substrates are irradiated with different doses of gamma rays ranged from 10 kGy to 100 kGy in air at room temperature by using ⁶⁰Co as a source. The structural analysis confirms cubic structure for non-irradiated and irradiated films. Moreover, structural prope...
Article
Nickel doped zinc sulfide (Ni:ZnS) thin films are deposited on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) for different Ni concentrations (0, 6, 12 and 18 at.-%). X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of undoped and Ni doped layers show a cubic structure with (111) preferred orientation. For the highest Ni concentration an impurity phase is dete...
Preprint
Full-text available
Developing micro- and nanomaterials for environmental pollution remediation is hot topic presently. Among the plethora of strategies, designing supported nanocatalysts for the degradation of pollutants witnessed constant renewal. In this context, we are addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by valorizing agrowaste as a source of bi...
Preprint
Full-text available
Developing micro- and nanomaterials for environmental pollution remediation is hot topic presently. Among the plethora of strategies, designing supported nanocatalysts for the degradation of pollutants witnessed constant renewal. In this context, we are addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by valorizing agrowaste as a source of bi...
Preprint
Full-text available
Developing micro-and nanomaterials for environmental pollution remediation is hot topic presently. Among the plethora of strategies, designing supported nanocatalysts for the degradation of pollutants witnessed constant renewal. In this context, we are addressing one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by valorizing agrowaste as a source of bio...
Article
Full-text available
The formation of silver nanopetal-Fe3O4 poly-nanocrystals assemblies and the use of the resulting hetero-nanostructures as active substrates for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) application are here reported. In practice, about 180 nm sized polyol-made Fe3O4 spheres, constituted by 10 nm sized crystals, were functionalized by (3-aminoprop...
Preprint
Olive pit powder particles were impregnated with copper and nickel nitrates and pyrolyzed at 400 °C. The resulting material consists of bimetallic CuNi-decorated biochar. CuNi nanocatalysts were found to be as small as 10 nm and very well dispersed over biochar. XRD results evidenced zero valent copper and nickel and formation of copper-nickel soli...
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Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a member of the TNF cytokine superfamily. TRAIL is able to induce apoptosis through engagement of its death receptors DR4 and DR5 in a wide variety of tumor cells while sparing vital normal cells. This makes it a promising agent for cancer therapy. Here, we present two differe...
Article
Full-text available
Current biomedical imaging techniques are crucial for the diagnosis of various diseases. Each imaging technique uses specific probes that, although each one has its own merits, do not encompass all the functionalities required for comprehensive imaging (sensitivity, non-invasive-ness, etc.). Bimodal imaging methods are therefore rapidly becoming an...
Article
CrystallineMn3O4nanoparticles were prepared by olive leaf extract (OLE)-mediated wet chemistry under mild conditions. These nanoparticles are used as supported active material on a carbon working electrode in a set of room-temperature charge/discharge assays that allowed evidencing a clear pseudo-capacitance behavior with a high specific capacitanc...
Article
Monodispersed CoO crystals about 5 nm in size were prepared by forced hydrolysis of cobalt(II) acetate in diethyleneglycol (DEG). The adsorption of solvent molecules on these primary nanocrystals causes in-situ oriented aggregation resulting in the precipitation of textured submicrometer-sized polycrystals. X-Ray Diffraction, Infrared Spectroscopy,...
Article
Co: ZnS (0, 6, 12 and 18 at. -%) nanostructures are mounted on glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows cubic structure. Compositional study using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) establishes chemical states of Zn²⁺, S²⁻, Co²⁺ and some impurity elements such as C and O. Morphological...
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The term “polyol process” was first used in the late eighties by Fiévet, Lagier, and Figlarz [...]
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Hetero-nanostructures with improved photoelectrochemical properties were assembled by impregnating well-crystallized CdSe quantum-dots onto TiO2 nanofibers on a Ti substrate. A significant enhancement of the photocurrent density was observed for the resulting CdSe-TiO2/Ti photoanode in a photoelectrochemical cell under solar simulated illumination:...
Article
Using solar radiation to fuel catalytic processes is often regarded as the solution to our energy needs. However, developing effective photocatalysts active under visible light has proven to be difficult, often due to toxicity, instability, and high cost of suitable catalysts. We engineered a novel photoactive nanomaterial obtained by the spontaneo...
Article
Conventional methods for sintering magnetic biased granular solids are generally known to induce severe grain growth and coarsening, thus making any evidence of exchange bias (EB) hard to detect in the resulting consolidates. This work explores the possibility of preparing a hetero-nanoconsolidate starting from an exchange-biased nanopowder and usi...
Article
A methodology of surface chemical functionalization of equimolar HfNbTaTiZr high-entropy alloy (HEA) is presented herein. The aim is to improve the biocompatibility of this material for its application as bio-implants. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) showed that air or aqueous oxidation of HfNbTaTiZr induced the formation at its surface of u...
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This study investigated the steady shear flow and viscoelastic properties of composite materials elaborated by introduction of positively charged polyol-made maghemite nanoparticles (NPs) in aqueous solutions of negatively charged sodium alginate polymers. Two different ligands were covalently attached to the particle surface, the 3-aminopropyl tri...
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Red luminescent and superparamagnetic β-NaY0.8Eu0.2F4@γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles, made of a 70 nm-sized β-NaY0.8Eu0.2F4 single crystal core decorated by a 10 nm-thick polycrystalline and discontinuous γ-Fe2O3 shell, have been synthesized by the polyol process. Functionalized with citrate ligands they show a good colloidal stability in water making them...
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Fe-glycolate wires with micrometer-scale lengths can be synthesized by the polyol process. Although the as-produced wires are in the paramagnetic state at room temperature, they are transformed into ferrimagnetic iron oxides and ferromagnetic metallic iron wires by reductive annealing. The shape of the wires is unchanged by reductive annealing, and...
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In this work, the preparation of magneto-plasmonic granular nanostructures and their evaluation as efficient substrates for magnetically assisted surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) sensing are discussed. These nanostructures consist of star-shaped gold Au shell grown on iron oxide Fe3-xO4 multicores. They were prepared by seed-mediated grow...
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An alternative route for metal hydrogenation has been investigated: cold plasma hydrogen implantation on polyol-made transition metal nanoparticles. This treatment applied to a challenging system, Ni–H, induces a re-ordering of the metal lattice, and superstructure lines have been observed by both Bragg–Brentano and grazing incidence X-ray diffract...
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Hetero-nanostructures based on magnetic contrast oxides have been prepared as highly dense nanoconsolidates. Cobalt ferrite-cobalt oxide core-shell type nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by seed mediated growth in polyol and subsequently consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) at 500 °C for a few minutes while applying a uniaxial pressure o...
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A common challenge in nanotechnology is the conception of materials with well-defined nanoscale structure. In recent years, virus capsids have been used as templates to create a network to organize 3D nano-objects, building thus new functional nanomaterials and then devices. In this work, we synthetized 3D gold nanoclusters and we used them as Surf...
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Magnetic materials are crucial for the efficiency of the conversion-storage-transport-reconversion energy chain, and the enhancement of their performance has an important impact on technological development. The present work explores the possibility of preparing hetero-nano-structured ceramics based on magnetic oxides, by coupling a ferrimagnetic p...
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Tin sulfide (SnS) thin films were obtained by chemical bath deposition (CBD) using two surfactants: anionic sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) and cationic benzethonium chloride (BZC). The structural, morphological, chemical composition and optical properties of thin films were analyzed by using XRD, MEB, EDX, and spectrophotometer. The degradation effici...
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Targeting TRAIL (Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-Related Apoptosis-Inducing Ligand) receptors for cancer therapy remains challenging due to tumor cell resistance and poor preparations of TRAIL or its derivatives. Herein, to optimize its therapeutic use, TRAIL was grafted onto iron oxide nanoclusters (NCs) with the aim of increasing its pro-apoptotic po...