Recent breakthroughs of antibacterial and antiviral protective polymeric materials during COVID-19 pandemic and after pandemic: Coating,packaging, and textile applications

The global epidemic owing to COVID-19 has generated awareness to ensuring best practices for avoiding the microorganism spread. Indeed, because of the increase in infections caused by bacteria and viruses such as SARS-CoV-2, the global demand for antimicrobial materials is growing. New technologies by using polymeric systems are of great interest. Virus transmission by contaminated surfaces leads to the spread of infectious diseases, so antimicrobial coatings are significant in this regard. Moreover, antimicrobial food packaging is beneficial to prevent the spread of microorganisms during food processing and transportation. Furthermore, antimicrobial textiles show an effective role. We aim to provide a review of prepared antimicrobial polymeric materials for use in coating, food packaging, and textile during the COVID-19 pandemic and after pandemic.     

Zinc polyoxometalate on activated carbon: an efficient catalyst for selective oxidation of alcohols with hydrogen peroxide

[PW₁₁ZnO₃₉]^5? was immobilized on activated carbon and characterized using Fourier transform infrared, X‐ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and elemental analysis techniques. Effective oxidation of various alcohols with hydrogen peroxide was performed in the presence of this catalyst. Easy separation of the catalyst from the reaction mixture, cheapness, high activity and selectivity, stability as well as retained activity in subsequent catalytic cycles make this supported catalyst suitable for small‐scale synthesis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antioxidant activities and bioactive compounds of five Jalopeno peppers (Capsicum annuum) cultivars

The present study was designed to evaluate the contents of different antioxidants compounds and their antioxidant activities in Jalopeno peppers (Capsicum annuum) cultivars (El Dorido, Grande, Tula, Sayula and El Rey) extracts. Free radical scavenging activity of Grande was recorded as high as 87% followed by El Dorido (83%). Results of reducing power (Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺) showed that Grande (0.85%) and El Dorido (0.81%) fruit extract absorbance value were close to synthetic antioxidant BHT (0. 97%) obtained at100 μg/mL. The results showed that total phenolic content of El Dorido and Grande were significantly higher compared to other Jalapeno pepper. Results indicated strong and positive correlation between antioxidant activity and carotenoids content (r = 0.75), vitamin C (r = 0.78) and total capsaicinoids (r = 0.84), respectively. The results of the antioxidant activity assays showed that the El Dorido and Grande had strongest antioxidant activity compared to other peppers cultivars in this study.     

Novel halogenated cyclopentasilylene-2,4-dienes via DFT

In view of immense importance of silylenes and the fact that their properties undergo significant changes on substitution with halogens, here, we have used B3LYP/6-311++G** level of theory to access the effects of 1–4 halogens (X = F, Cl, Br, and I) on four unprecedented sets of cyclopentasilylene-2,4-dienes; with the following formulas: SiC₄H₃X ( 1 _X ), SiC₄H₂X₂ ( 2 _X ), SiC₄HX₃ ( 3 _X ), and SiC₄X₄ ( 4 _X ). In going down from F to I, the singlet (s)-triplet (t) energy gap (ΔE_s-t, a possible indication of stability), and band gap (ΔE_H-L) decrease while nucleophilicity (N), chemical potential (μ), and proton affinity (PA) increase. The overall order of N, μ, and PA for each X is 2 _X > 1 _X > 3 _X > 4 _X . Precedence of 2 _X over 1 _X is attributed to the symmetric cross conjugation in the former. The highest and lowest N are shown by 2 _I and 4 _F . The trend of divalent angle () for each X is 4 _X > 1 _X > 3 _X > 2 _X . The results show that in going from electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) to electron donating groups (EDGs), the ΔE_s-t and ΔE_H-L decrease while N, μ, and PA increase. Also, rather high N of our scrutinized silylenes may suggest new promising ligands in organometallic chemistry.     

Super-pressed and super-cooled (?) P(EO)20LiBETI

High pressure conductivity measurements have been carried out on P(EO)₂₀LiBETI from 295 K to 368 K. The decrease of electrical conductivity with pressure is larger in the partially crystalline phase (low temperature and low pressure or high temperature and high pressure) than in the fully amorphous phase (high temperature and low pressure). It is found that if the phase transition is approached from the crystalline phase (decreasing pressure), the pressure of the phase transition varies from 0 to 0.23 GPa as the temperature increases from 336 K to 358 K. The shift of the phase transition temperature with pressure is approximately the same as the shift of the glass transition temperature with pressure for pure PEO. This can be understood in terms of the defect diffusion model. If the material is above 336 K and is in the fully amorphous phase, after pressure is increased above the critical pressure, the material remains in the amorphous phase for extended periods of time before transforming to the partially crystalline phase. This is reminiscent of a super-pressed state but may be an indication of slow crystallization kinetics.     

Indirect kinetic spectrophotometric determination of hydroxylamine based on its reaction with iodate.

A simple, precise and accurate method is proposed for rapid determination of trace amounts of hydroxylamine based on the reaction of hydroxylamine with iodate in acidic media. The reaction of neutral red by the produced nitrite ion was used to monitor the reaction spectrophotometrically at 525 nm by a fixed time method. Hydroxylamine in the range of 0.0400-1.200 microg mL(-1) could be determined. The relative standard deviation for 10 determinations of 0.500 microg mL(-1) hydroxylamine was 1.81% and the limit of detection was 0.010 microg mL(-1). The proposed method was applied to the determination of hydroxylamine in water samples with satisfactory results.