Gallium phosphide nanofiber

Catalog	ACMA00031049
Description	The nanofiber can show peculiar shapes. Sometimes they can show noncrystalline order, assuming e.g. a pentagonal symmetry or a helicoidal (spiral) shape. Electrons zigzag along pentagonal tubes and spiral along helicoidal tubes. The lack of crystalline order is due to the fact that a nanofiber is periodic only in one dimension (along its axis). Hence it can assume any order in the other directions (in plane) if this is energetically favorable. Arrays of nanofiber / nanowhiskers are a new type of nanostructures that exhibit quasi-1D characteristics. Metallic nanofiber / nanowhiskers and multi-layered nanofiber / nanowhiskers have been successfully fabricated before.
Application	There are many applications where nanowires may become important in electronic, opto-electronic and nanoelectromechanical devices, as additives in advanced composites, for metallic interconnects in nanoscale quantum devices, as field-emittors and as leads for biomolecular nanosensors. Also optical, sensing, solar cells, magnetic, and electronic device applications
Material	Gallium phosphide
Notes	Before using nanofibers, the user shall determine the suitability of the product for its intended use, and user assumes all risk and liability whatsoever in connection therewith.
Packaging	Usually to customer specification
Specification	Presently diameters nominally as small as 12 nanometers

Case Study

Assessing Pulmonary Safety Profile of Gallium Phosphide Nanofibers

Berthing, Trine, et al. Journal of Nanobiotechnology 21.1 (2023): 322.

As III-V semiconductor nanowires approach industrial-scale production for optoelectronic applications, their high-aspect-ratio morphology raises safety concerns analogous to pathogenic asbestos and carcinogenic multi-walled carbon nanotubes (e.g., MWCNT-7). Understanding biodistribution and toxicity profiles of gallium phosphide nanowires (GaP NWs) is essential prior to commercialization where inhalation exposure may occur.
Methodology:
Female C57BL/6J mice received pulmonary exposure via intratracheal instillation of GaP NWs (99 nm diameter × 3.7 μm length) at three doses, including low (2 μg, 0.12 mg/kg bw), medium (6 μg, 0.35 mg/kg bw), and high (18 μg, 1.1 mg/kg bw). Toxicological endpoints were evaluated at 1, 3, 28 days, and 3 months post-exposure. MWCNT-7 nanotubes and carbon black nanoparticles served as benchmark materials.
Key Findings:
· Acute Pulmonary Toxicity: Bronchoalveolar lavage cells of the lung tissue showed dose-dependent genotoxicity. Lung tissue and lavage fluid both showed evidence of acute inflammation and eosinophilia at 1 and 3 days after instillation. Inflammatory response severity comparable to MWCNT-7 at equivalent doses.
· Biotranslocation: GaP NWs detected in secondary organs (liver, spleen, kidney, uterus, brain) after 3 months.
· Material Transformation: Partial dissolution in lung environment yielding thinner nanowires; Estimated in vivo half-life: ≈3 months.