1st Edition

Self-Healing at the Nanoscale Mechanisms and Key Concepts of Natural and Artificial Systems

Edited By Vincenzo Amendola, Moreno Meneghetti Copyright 2012
    463 Pages 196 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    463 Pages 196 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    A complete panorama of self-healing strategies, Self-Healing at the Nanoscale: Mechanisms and Key Concepts of Natural and Artificial Systems focuses on the development of new nanoscale self-healing systems, from general concepts to physical chemical mechanisms. With a special emphasis on key concepts, strategies, and mechanisms at the atomic, molecular, and nanometric scales, this book is made up of three parts:

    • Natural Self-Healing Systems covers paradigmatic self-repair systems developed by nature in living organisms
    • Artificial Self-Healing Systems describes various materials whose structures have been engineered at the micro- or nanoscale to obtain self-repair ability
    • Frontiers of Self-Healing Systems includes contributions on systems studied in recent years that have shown potential for developing or inspiring new self-healing nanomaterials  

    The development of self-healing systems, especially concerning materials and the nanoscale, is a nascent yet appealing topic for scientists in fields ranging from engineering to biology. Self-Healing at the Nanoscale provides a broad view of the concepts, mechanisms, and types of self-healing systems at the nanoscale, forming a guide to the field and inspiring the development of self-healing systems for the future.

    Natural Self-Healing Systems
    Keeping the Green World Alive: The Repair Cycle of Photosystem II
    Josef Komenda, Franck Michoux, and Peter J. Nixon
    Regeneration of 11-cis-Retinal in the Retinoid Visual Cycle
    Gennadiy Moiseyev and Jian-Xing Ma
    Biological Repair Mechanisms: A Short Overview
    Alessandro Sinigaglia

    Artificial Self-Healing Systems
    Self-Healing of Gold Nanoparticles during Laser Irradiation: An Embryonic Case of "Systems Nanotechnology"
    Vincenzo Amendola and Moreno Meneghetti
    Self-Healing in Two-Dimensional Supramolecular Structures: Utilizing Thermodynamic Driving Forces
    Markus Lackinger
    Pursuit of Long-Lasting Oxygen-Evolving Catalysts for Artificial Photosynthesis: Self-Healing Materials and Molecular-Reinforced Structures
    Serena Berardi, Andrea Sartorel, Mauro Carraro,and Marcella Bonchio
    Dynamic Self-Assembly of Nanoscale Components for Solar Energy Conversion
    Ardemis A. Boghossian, Moon-Ho Ham, Jong Hyun Choi, and Michael S. Strano
    Self-Healing Nanocomposites: Role and Activation of Inorganic Moieties and Hybrid Nanophases
    Ivano Alessandri
    Thermoreversibility in Polymeric Systems: Chemical and Physical Aspects
    C. Toncelli, D. De Reus, A.A. Broekhuis, and F. Picchioni
    Self-Repairing by Damage-Triggered Smart Containers
    Dmitry G. Shchukin and Dmitry O. Grigoriev
    Self-Healing Process in Glassy Materials
    François O. Méar, Daniel Coillot, Renaud Podor, and Lionel Montagne
    Basic Principles of Self-Healing in Polymers, Ceramics, Concrete, and Metals
    Martin D. Hager and Ulrich S. Schubert

    Frontiers of Self-Healing at the Nanoscale
    Design of a Repair-and-Go System for Site-Specific Healing at the Nanoscale
    German V. Kolmakov, Todd Emrick, Thomas P. Russell, Alfred J. Crosby, and Anna C. Balazs
    Autopoietic Self-Reproduction as a Distinctive Feature of Structural and Dynamic Organization in Microcompartment Systems: From Self-Assembled Micelles to Synthetic Cells
    Pasquale Stano
    Molecular Motors and Self-Healing at the Neuromuscular Synapse
    Alf Månsson, Marlene Norrby, and Sven Tågerud
    Fault-Tolerant Approach to the Configuration of Programmable Logic at the Nanoscale
    Gianluca Tempesti, André Stauffer, and Joël Rossier
    Index

    Biography

    Vincenzo Amendola has been an assistant professor of physical chemistry in the Department of Chemical Sciences of Padua University since 2008. He received his Ph.D. in material science and engineering in 2007 and his master’s degree in material science in 2004, both from Padua University, working in the group of Professor M. Meneghetti. In 2007, he was a 6 month visiting PhD student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as part of the group of Professor F. Stellacci, and in 2011 he was a 7 month academic visitor at Cambridge University, as part of the group of Dr. A.C. Ferrari. He was honored with the Levi prize and the Semerano prize from the Italian Chemical Society. He is the author of several peer-reviewed papers, one patent, and has given invited talks at several conferences, including the first conference about Laser Irradiation and Nanoparticles Generation in Liquids (ANGEL2010). He also serves as referee for several journals about nanotechnology, plasmonics and physical chemistry. His main research topics are the laser ablation synthesis in solution (LASiS) of functional and functionalizable nanostructures, the study of plasmonic properties of nanoparticles, and, in general, the interaction of nanosecond laser pulses with matter for the generation of new materials and of new phenomena (like self-healing processes). He is currently collaborating with various research groups in Europe and Asia. More information about his research activities can be found on the web at www.chimica.unipd.it/vincenzo.amendola.

    Moreno Meneghetti is a full professor of physical chemistry at the University of Padova. He focuses his research interests on the optical properties of materials as tools for understanding their behavior. He uses both experimental and theoretical approaches for characterizing phase transitions in conducting and superconducting organic materials, focusing especially on electron-phonon couplings involving molecular units. He developed full-diagonalization and non-mean field approaches to study the optical properties (vibrational and electronic) of low-dimensional solids. Dr. Meneghetti’s research interests also include nonlinear optical properties of molecular systems and particularly the dynamics of nonlinear transmission of excited states with applications like optical limiting. Nonlinear optical properties and Raman properties of nanostructures based on carbon-like fullerenes and nanotubes were also investigated for their reactivity and for the preparation of new materials. Models for the electronic properties of single-wall nanotubes based on non-conventional methodologies are also the focus of his current research. Laser ablation of metals in solution for the production of metal nanoparticles is another aim of his research, focusing especially on the SERS effect. In particular, gold nanoparticles are used as nanobioconjugates with applications in nanomedicine for targeting and imaging at the sub-cell level. Dr. Meneghetti’s research activity has been published in more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals.