Nuzhet Inci Kilic
Visiting Researcher Student, GR Visiting Researcher
Bio
I am a PhD student in the Fiber and Polymer Technology Department at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. I graduated in Materials Science and Nanotechnology Engineering with a BSc at TOBB University of Economics and Technology (Turkey) and an MSc in Nanotechnology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden). I am currently also a visiting student researcher at Stanford University.
My research interests lie at the intersection of nanomaterials, functional bio-based materials, and sustainable electronics. Specifically, I focus on integrating conducting and functional materials with cellulose-based fibers to develop advanced materials for applications such as energy storage, sensors, actuators, and paper-based electronics. My work explores how tailoring the structure and surface chemistry of cellulose can enhance electronic and ionic conductivity, while also investigating scalable fabrication approaches including industrial papermaking and advanced material processing techniques. During my research, I also work on advanced characterization of these materials to better understand their structure-property relationships and improve their performance in emerging electronic and energy technologies.
All Publications
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3D-Printed Crosslinked Nanocellulose-MXene Hydrogels and Aerogels with High Strength and Conductivity.
Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)
2025: e07491
Abstract
Extrusion-based 3D-printing is a promising manufacturing method because it can integrate various nanomaterials, including highly conductive MXenes. Nevertheless, the fabrication of both wet and dry stable 3D-printed structures with MXene has remained challenging due to the difficulty in forming mechanically stable, crosslinked networks with the required rheological properties. In this work, a MXene ink formulation incorporating cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) as rheology modifiers is developed, enhancing structural integrity and enabling a one-step freeze-induced crosslinking process to produce lightweight, porous structures. The 3D-printed structures exhibit remarkable mechanical strength, supporting up to 10,000 times their own weight, while maintaining a conductivity of over 195 S m-1. Additionally, they demonstrate a specific capacitance of 240 F g-1 at 5mV s-1, highlighting their potential for applications in advanced iontronic devices. A fully 3D-printed supercapacitor concept is showcased in two distinct configurations: in-plane and stacked; demonstrating their structural integrity and electrochemical stability in aqueous environments.
View details for DOI 10.1002/smll.202507491
View details for PubMedID 41055099
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Design and Biodistribution of PEGylated Core-Shell X-ray Fluorescent Nanoparticle Contrast Agents.
ACS applied materials & interfaces
2025
Abstract
Nanoparticle (NP) uptake by macrophages and their accumulation in undesired organs such as the liver and spleen constitute a major barrier to the effective delivery of NPs to targeted tissues for bioimaging and therapeutics. Surface functionalization with polyethylene glycol (PEG) has been demonstrated to be a promising strategy to limit NP sequestration, although its longitudinal stability under physiological conditions and impact on the NP biodistribution have not been investigated with an in vivo quantitative approach. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) imaging has been employed to noninvasively map the in vivo biodistribution of purposely designed molybdenum-based contrast agents, leading to submillimeter resolution, elemental specificity, and high penetration depth. In the present work, we design a stepwise layering approach for NP synthesis to investigate the role of chemisorbed and physisorbed PEG on silica-coated molybdenum-based contrast agents in affecting their in vivo biodistribution, using whole-body XRF imaging. Comparative quantitative in vivo studies indicated that physisorbed PEG (1.5 kDa) did not substantially affect the biodistribution, while the chemisorption route with mPEG-Si (6-9 PEG units) led to significant macroscopic variations in the biodistribution, leading to a reduction in NP uptake by the liver. Furthermore, the results highlighted the major role of the spleen in compensating for the limited sequestration by the liver, microscopically validated with a multiscale imaging approach with fluorophore doping of the silica shell. These findings demonstrated the promising role of XRF imaging for the rapid assessment of surface-functionalized contrast agents with whole-body in vivo quantitative pharmacokinetic studies, establishing the groundwork for developing strategies to identify and bypass undesired NP uptake.
View details for DOI 10.1021/acsami.5c01902
View details for PubMedID 40265284
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Recyclable electroactive paper based on cationic fibers adaptable to industrial papermaking
CELLULOSE
2024; 31 (14): 8837-8849
View details for DOI 10.1007/s10570-024-06128-9
View details for Web of Science ID 001298725100001
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Two-Photon Polymerization Printing with High Metal Nanoparticle Loading.
ACS applied materials & interfaces
2023; 15 (42): 49794-49804
Abstract
Two-photon polymerization (2PP) is an efficient technique to achieve high-resolution, three-dimensional (3D)-printed complex structures. However, it is restricted to photocurable monomer combinations, thus presenting constraints when aiming at attaining functionally active resist formulations and structures. In this context, metal nanoparticle (NP) integration as an additive can enable functionality and pave the way to more dedicated applications. Challenges lay on the maximum NP concentrations that can be incorporated into photocurable resist formulations due to the laser-triggered interactions, which primarily originate from laser scattering and absorption, as well as the limited dispersibility threshold. In this study, we propose an approach to address these two constraints by integrating metallic Rh NPs formed ex situ, purposely designed for this scope. The absence of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) within the visible and near-infrared spectra, coupled with the limited absorption value measured at the laser operating wavelength (780 nm), significantly limits the laser-induced interactions. Moreover, the dispersibility threshold is increased by engineering the NP surface to be compatible with the photocurable resin, permitting us to achieve concentrations of up to 2 wt %, which, to our knowledge, is significantly higher than the previously reported limit (or threshold) for embedded metal NPs. Another distinctive advantage of employing Rh NPs is their role as promising contrast agents for X-ray fluorescence (XRF) bioimaging. We demonstrated the presence of Rh NPs within the whole 2PP-printed structure and emphasized the potential use of NP-loaded 3D-printed nanostructures for medical devices.
View details for DOI 10.1021/acsami.3c10581
View details for PubMedID 37816209
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10614202
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XFCT-MRI hybrid multimodal contrast agents for complementary imaging.
Nanoscale
2023; 15 (5): 2214-2222
Abstract
Multimodal contrast agents in biomedical imaging enable the collection of more comprehensive diagnostic information. In the present work, we design hybrid ruthenium-decorated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) as the contrast agents for both magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray fluorescence computed tomography (XFCT). The NPs are synthesized via a one-pot polyol hot injection route, in diethylene glycol. In vivo preclinical studies demonstrate the possibility of correlative bioimaging with these contrast agents. The complementarity allows accurate localization, provided by the high contrast of the soft tissues in MRI combined with the elemental selectivity of XFCT, leading to NP detection with high specificity and resolution. We envision that this multimodal imaging could find future applications for early tumor diagnosis, improved long-term treatment monitoring, and enhanced radiotherapy planning.
View details for DOI 10.1039/d2nr05829d
View details for PubMedID 36625091
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Carbon Quantum Dots Conjugated Rhodium Nanoparticles as Hybrid Multimodal Contrast Agents.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
2021; 11 (9)
Abstract
Nanoparticle (NP)-based contrast agents enabling different imaging modalities are sought for non-invasive bio-diagnostics. A hybrid material, combining optical and X-ray fluorescence is presented as a bioimaging contrast agent. Core NPs based on metallic rhodium (Rh) have been demonstrated to be potential X-ray Fluorescence Computed Tomography (XFCT) contrast agents. Microwave-assisted hydrothermal method is used for NP synthesis, yielding large-scale NPs within a significantly short reaction time. Rh NP synthesis is performed by using a custom designed sugar ligand (LODAN), constituting a strong reducing agent in aqueous solution, which yields NPs with primary amines as surface functional groups. The amino groups on Rh NPs are used to directly conjugate excitation-independent nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs), which are synthesized through citrate pyrolysis in ammonia solution. CQDs provided the Rh NPs with optical fluorescence properties and improved their biocompatibility, as demonstrated in vitro by Real-Time Cell Analysis (RTCA) on a macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7). The multimodal characteristics of the hybrid NPs are confirmed with confocal microscopy, and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) phantom experiments.
View details for DOI 10.3390/nano11092165
View details for PubMedID 34578481
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8470909
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Minute-Made, High-Efficiency Nanostructured Bi2Te3 via High-Throughput Green Solution Chemical Synthesis.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
2021; 11 (8)
Abstract
Scalable synthetic strategies for high-quality and reproducible thermoelectric (TE) materials is an essential step for advancing the TE technology. We present here very rapid and effective methods for the synthesis of nanostructured bismuth telluride materials with promising TE performance. The methodology is based on an effective volume heating using microwaves, leading to highly crystalline nanostructured powders, in a reaction duration of two minutes. As the solvents, we demonstrate that water with a high dielectric constant is as good a solvent as ethylene glycol (EG) for the synthetic process, providing a greener reaction media. Crystal structure, crystallinity, morphology, microstructure and surface chemistry of these materials were evaluated using XRD, SEM/TEM, XPS and zeta potential characterization techniques. Nanostructured particles with hexagonal platelet morphology were observed in both systems. Surfaces show various degrees of oxidation, and signatures of the precursors used. Thermoelectric transport properties were evaluated using electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity measurements to estimate the TE figure-of-merit, ZT. Low thermal conductivity values were obtained, mainly due to the increased density of boundaries via materials nanostructuring. The estimated ZT values of 0.8-0.9 was reached in the 300-375 K temperature range for the hydrothermally synthesized sample, while 0.9-1 was reached in the 425-525 K temperature range for the polyol (EG) sample. Considering the energy and time efficiency of the synthetic processes developed in this work, these are rather promising ZT values paving the way for a wider impact of these strategic materials with a minimum environmental impact.
View details for DOI 10.3390/nano11082053
View details for PubMedID 34443884
View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8400796