In-Liquid Plasma: A Novel Tool for Nanofabrication

This chapter focuses on synthesising nanomaterials using an emerging technology called In-Liquid Plasma, i.e., plasma generation inside a liquid. The generation of various reactive species and energetic electrons in the plasma zone plays a crucial role in synthesising nanomaterials. They act as the reducing agent. Non-requirement of the toxic chemical reducing agents make In-Liquid Plasma an environmentally friendly green approach to fabricate nanomaterials. This method enables the simultaneous synthesis of nanoparticles from the electrode material and liquid precursor, which gains much importance on the single-step synthesis of nanocomposites. Moreover, it gives flexibility in controlling both the physical and chemical parameters, which provide fine-tuning required for the size, shape and composition of nanomaterials.

Stabilization of Calcium Oxalate Precursors during the Pre- and Post-Nucleation Stages with Poly(acrylic acid)

In this work, calcium oxalate (CaOx) precursors were stabilized by poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) as an additive under in vitro crystallization assays involving the formation of pre-nucleation clusters of CaOx via a non-classical crystallization (NCC) pathway. The in vitro crystallization of CaOx was carried out in the presence of 10, 50 and 100 mg/L PAA by using automatic calcium potentiometric titration experiments at a constant pH of 6.7 at 20 °C. The results confirmed the successful stabilization of amorphous calcium oxalate II and III (ACOII and ACO III) nanoparticles formed after PNC in the presence of PAA and suggest the participation and stabilization of polymer-induced liquid-precursor (PILP) in the presence of PAA. We demonstrated that PAA stabilizes CaOx precursors with size in the range of 20–400 nm. PAA additive plays a key role in the in vitro crystallization of CaOx stabilizing multi-ion complexes in the pre-nucleation stage, thereby delaying the nucleation of ACO nanoparticles. Indeed, PAA additive favors the formation of more hydrated and soluble phase of ACO nanoparticles that are bound by electrostatic interactions to carboxylic acid groups of PAA during the post-nucleation stage. These findings may help to a better understanding of the pathological mineralization resulting in urolithiasis in mammals.