Antonella Macagnano - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Antonella Macagnano

Materials Science and Engineering: C, Apr 1, 2021

Developing advanced materials for wound dressings is a very challenging, yet unaddressed task. Th... more Developing advanced materials for wound dressings is a very challenging, yet unaddressed task. These systems are supposed to act as temporary skin substitutes, performing multiple functions, including fluid absorption and antimicrobial action, supporting cell proliferation and migration in order to promote the skin regeneration process. Following a global bioinspired approach, in this study, we developed a multifunctional textile for wound dressing applications. Biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate/poly-3-caprolactone (PHB/PCL) mats were fabricated by electrospinning to mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM), thus providing structural and biochemical support to tissue regeneration. Furthermore, inspired by nature's strategy which exploits melanin as an effective weapon against pathogens infection, PHB/PCL mats were modified with hybrid Melanin-TiO2 nanostructures. These were combined to PHB/PCL mats following two different strategies: in-situ incorporation during electrospinning process, alternately ex-post coating by electrospraying onto obtained mats. All samples revealed huge water uptake and poor cytotoxicity towards HaCat eukaryotic cells. Melanin-TiO2 coating conferred PHB/PCL mats significant antimicrobial activity towards both Gram(+) and Gram(-) strains, marked hydrophilic properties as well as bioactivity which is expected to promote materials-cells interaction. This study is going to provide a novel paradigm for the design of active wound dressings for regenerative medicine.

In this work we present preliminary results on surface acoustic waves (SAW) chemical sensors base... more In this work we present preliminary results on surface acoustic waves (SAW) chemical sensors based on a new AlN/diamond/Si multilayered structure. The high SAW velocity in diamond allows it to operate at higher frequencies at moderate interdigital transducer (IDT) line-width resolution in order to increase the sensor output signals, with the aim to increase the sensor sensitivity. Aluminium nitride has

Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, Nov 1, 1998

Flat and gable meso-tetraphenylporphyrin-corrole heterodimers have been synthesized following a s... more Flat and gable meso-tetraphenylporphyrin-corrole heterodimers have been synthesized following a stepwise approach. The macrocyclic precursor for both isomers is a functionalized meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) bearing a formyl group at one of the peripheral phenyl groups. The preparation of these starting materials has been improved with respect to the previously reported method. Acidic condensation with pyrrole 8 allows the preparation of a TPP-dipyrromethane intermediate. Subsequent decarboxylation followed by reaction with formylpyrrole 2 affords the corresponding TPP–a,c-biladiene species. Final cyclization of this intermediate affords the desired heterodimer. Attempts to use the functionalized corrole 5 as starting material were unsuccessful, as this corrole failed to condense with pyrrole and benzaldehyde. This synthetic approach provides new examples of tetrapyrrolic heterodimers, which can represent useful biomimetic models to study photochemical processes.

Springer eBooks, Oct 25, 2013

Titanium oxide nanofibers were successfully prepared via thermal treatment of electrospun composi... more Titanium oxide nanofibers were successfully prepared via thermal treatment of electrospun composite polymer (PVP)/TiO2 nanofibers. The morphology and crystal structure were characterized by SEM and TEM. It was confirmed that the calcination process was responsible for the removal of PVP component and the growth of crystalline TiO2. The resulting nanofibers, which have a quite rough surface, an average diameter of 60 nm and a length reaching hundreds of μm, were found to be formed by the agglomeration of TiO2 nanoparticles with brookite phase. Gas-sensing tests towards ethanol demonstrated n-type sensing response and good reversibility at an operating temperature of 450 °C. A first tentative to model electrical impedance spectra was made in order to understand charge transport in relationship with morphological and structural aspects.

Sensors and Microsystems, Jul 1, 2008

Sensors

Suspended particulate matter (PMx) is one of the most important environmental pollutants. Miniatu... more Suspended particulate matter (PMx) is one of the most important environmental pollutants. Miniaturized sensors capable of measuring and analyzing PMx are crucial in environmental research fields. The quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is one of the most well-known sensors that could be used to monitor PMx. In general, in environmental pollution science, PMx is divided into two main categories correlated to particle diameter (e.g., PM < 2.5 µm and PM < 10 µm). QCM-based systems are capable of measuring this range of particles, but there is an important issue that limits the application. In fact, if particles with different diameters are collected on QCM electrodes, the response will be a result of the total mass of particles; there are no simple methods to discriminate the mass of the two categories without the use of a filter or manipulation during sampling. The QCM response depends on particle dimensions, fundamental resonant frequency, the amplitude of oscillation, and system...

Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, 2017

In this paper we show the developing and the applications of a remotely controlled terrestrial ve... more In this paper we show the developing and the applications of a remotely controlled terrestrial vehicle (or Unmanned Ground Vehicles—UGV) provided with an integrated sensory system for environmental monitoring. The developed system is aimed to monitor some of the key air pollutants and harmful compounds, usable in contaminated sites at high risk to human health. The system is a 4WD radio-controlled vehicle, with small dimensions and low weight, complemented by a sensory system based on hybrid sensors technology (e.g. optic, electrochemical, gravimetric, etc…). These features allow this system to be easily used when inspection missions are required, before or after any environmental disaster. It is able to measure, in few minutes, the atmospheric particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5, PM10), CO2 and CO, H2S, SO2, NO2 in the range between 15 and 5000 ppb. Moreover, it is equipped with a telemetry system for the remote-controlled navigation, including a high-resolution camera, a GPS antenna, an anemometer and proximity sensors. The core of the device is a microprocessor board able to assist the navigation, acquiring values from sensors, transfer/record data and control tens input/outputs up to a distance of 1 km. In this work we report some information regarding the integration, the calibration and the data related to the monitoring of a waste landfill in the closing phase, during the construction of the extractor for generated biogas.

Soil ecosystems are composed of microhabitats that often differ in composition and ecolo... more Soil ecosystems are composed of microhabitats that often differ in composition and ecological strategies at the microscale. Besides, the assumption that soil organism behaviour at the ecosystem level is similar to that at microscale may drive unexpected findings. Soil pH at microsites either can differ significantly from whole soil pH. Moreover, the large porosity measured in the whole soil can contrast with water, nutrient, air and waste flow limitations and dramatic constraints to microbial mobility and access to food, when analysed at the microscale, consequent to local pore geometry, connectivity and tortuosity. Incidentally, soil microorganisms, which are present in billions of individuals per gram of soil, have micrometre sizes and prevalently interact with the other soil components at the nano-to-microscale. They colonise soil microhabitat based on the local concentration and composition of air, nutrients and materials. Finally, different organic materials and minerals in the soil induce distinct interactions at microsites, generating diverse organo-mineral associations and different microbial populations. The study of soil microhabitats can enable comprehending how the microsites' dynamics can drive to ecosystems' macroscale behaviours. However, the study of soil microhabitats in real conditions, even when investigated in soil mesocosms and microcosms, can be challenging or require complicated and expensive instrumentations to achieve such outcomes. The rebuilding of soil microhabitats in model systems can help study the microhabitats' mutual interactions at the microscale. However, it is impossible to reproduce any possible combination of soil components to replicate the multitude of microhabitats existing in natural soil ecosystems. Then, approximations are necessary. The present study proposes to recreate an artificial model 3D soil-like microhabitat resulting from the aggregation of the major classes of soil components (mineral particles, organic polymeric components, and microorganisms) in nano- to macro-architectures to study organo-mineral-microbe interactions at the microscale, and enable reproducible works. Electrospinning/electrospraying technologies were chosen for their extreme versatility in creating self-standing 3D complex, porous and functional structures and their proven capacity to permit microbes to grow on the resulting composite fibrous frameworks.Bacteria strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Burkholderia terricola, typical microbial species populating the rhizosphere soils, will be utilised as microhabitat microbial components for generating a simplified microbiome in the 3D soil-like nanostructures. At first instance, we intended to use microscopy (e.g. SEM, TEM, confocal) as the tool of choice to investigate over time the spatial distribution of bacterial populations throughout the artificial nanostructured soil microhabitat here reproduced, the release of EPS by the bacterial populations and possible interactions. The proposed 3D soil-like nanostructures are supposed to provide the possibility of investigating the microbial lifestyle in microhabitats at different scales, from nm to mm, then linking microbial phenotypic traits to specific soil features.

S2 Table S1 Detailed sampler deployment plan. Dates refer to 2019. Site Deployment 1w 2w 3w 4w 5w... more S2 Table S1 Detailed sampler deployment plan. Dates refer to 2019. Site Deployment 1w 2w 3w 4w 5w 6w 7w 8w 9w 10w 11w 12w Sampling start and stop st 2-week 5 Feb to 19 Feb

Electrospun Materials for Tissue Engineering and Biomedical Applications, 2017

A brief description of the recent results related to electrospun nanodevices designed and investi... more A brief description of the recent results related to electrospun nanodevices designed and investigated to create novel and advanced diagnostic tools to prevent disease progression as well as to allow a proper and prompt therapeutic treatment has been reported. Electrospun nanofibers resulted to be an exceptional support for several detecting tools, due to their uniqueness in morphology and fibrous arrangements and to the great versatility of the technology in creating advanced and sophisticated sensing layers compatible with electronics and electronic nanodevices. Together with a great number of novel sensors for early detecting pathologies markers in blood, also sensors for more noninvasive diagnostics systems are getting increasingly popular in the scientific community as well as on market (e.g., breath and skin monitoring) and routine analysis. Furthermore emerging analysis methods and the development of accurate detection techniques for biomarkers provide a bright perspective for diagnosing different diseases using exhaled breath analysis. In particular, electronic noses, which are composed of cross-sensitive sensor arrays with pattern recognition algorithms, show several advantages compared to other types of analyzing equipment with respect to portability and cost effectiveness for hand-held breath analysis devices. These studies reported that ES sensors exhibit exciting performances in health disease monitoring.

Proceedings IMCS 2018, 2018

In this paper, electrospinning technique is used to prepare large surface composite materials whe... more In this paper, electrospinning technique is used to prepare large surface composite materials where the sensing properties of porphyrins are combined with the conductivity and high reactivity of graphene. Results shows a peculiar sensitivity to small electron donor molecules with an enhanced selectivity towards ammonia and NO 2 .

Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2017

We developed an oxygen sensor based on mesoporous titania films working at RT under UV irradiatio... more We developed an oxygen sensor based on mesoporous titania films working at RT under UV irradiation. Due to larger surface area and number of defects, the mesoporous film exhibits a response higher than dense titania.

IEEE Sensors Journal, 2018

This paper presents an investigation on the sensitivity toward ethanol of a gas sensor based on T... more This paper presents an investigation on the sensitivity toward ethanol of a gas sensor based on TiO2 nanofibers deposited by electrospinning between interdigitated Pt electrodes. Morphological/structural characterizations by SEM/TEM show the formation of fibers, having a length up to hundreds of mutextm\mu \text{m}mutextm and a diameter of about 60 nm, constituted of TiO2 nanograins in the brookite phase. The sensitivity was evaluated by measuring, under constant polarization, the electrical current of the oxide nanofibers network at different ethanol concentrations (50, 100, and 150 ppm) and different operating temperatures (350 °C, 400 °C, and 450 °C). The experimental results show that the response increases linearly with increasing both the ethanol concentrations and the operating temperature. In particular, the best performance of the device toward the ethanol sensing is obtained when it works at 450 °C. An equivalent circuit, modeling the electrical behavior in relation with the material microstructure, was proposed by carrying out ac impedance spectroscopy investigation during gas sensing tests.

Environmental Science: Nano, 2019

Correction for ‘A study on the dependence of bacteria adhesion on the polymer nanofibre diameter’... more Correction for ‘A study on the dependence of bacteria adhesion on the polymer nanofibre diameter’ by Fabrizio De Cesare et al., Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2019, 6, 778–797.

Environmental Science: Nano, 2019

Analysing the dependence of bacteria adhesion on the diameter of nanofibres to improve cell-to-ma... more Analysing the dependence of bacteria adhesion on the diameter of nanofibres to improve cell-to-material adhesion for target applications.

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2018

Nanoscale, Jan 26, 2018

We describe a simple method to prepare water dispersible core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) 1... more We describe a simple method to prepare water dispersible core-shell CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) 1 by capping QDs with a new thiol-containing heterobifunctional dicarboxylic ligand 4 (DHLA-EDADA). This ligand, obtained on a gram scale through a few synthetic steps, provides a compact layer on the QDs, whose hydrodynamic size in H2O is 15 nm ± 3 nm. The colloidal stability is dramatically enhanced with respect to the well-known (±) α-lipoic acid (DHLA). The ligand affinity towards QDs and the water dispersibility of nanocrystals 1 are addressed by the dithiol groups of DHLA, which chelate the zinc of the shell, and by the dicarboxylic groups of the ethylenediamine-N,N-diacetic acid (EDADA) residue, respectively. The effects of pH, buffer solutions, and biological medium on the stability of QDs 1 were assessed by monitoring the photoluminescence (PL) and hydrodynamic size over time. Highly fluorescent QD dispersions, stable over extended periods of time and over broad pH ranges and buf...

Materials Science and Engineering: C, Apr 1, 2021

Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, Nov 1, 1998

Springer eBooks, Oct 25, 2013

Sensors and Microsystems, Jul 1, 2008

Sensors

Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, 2017

Electrospun Materials for Tissue Engineering and Biomedical Applications, 2017

Proceedings IMCS 2018, 2018

Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2017

IEEE Sensors Journal, 2018

Environmental Science: Nano, 2019

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2018

Nanoscale, Jan 26, 2018