Applications of Inorganic Polymeric Materials, III: Polyphosphazenes

Polyphosphazenes form one of the most important and interesting classes of inorganic polymers having a backbone of alternating phosphorus and nitrogen atoms with phosphorus atom bearing two organic side groups. The most important feature of these polymers is the synthesis route which allows the side groups to be changed over a wide range to obtain a broad variety of products with different properties from elastomers to glasses, water soluble to hydrophobic polymers, bioinert to bioactive materials, and electrical insulators to conductors. In this paper, some novel applications of these polymers in biomedical materials and advanced devices are reviewed.     

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan-based polyurethane elastomer dispersions

Abstract  

A number of aqueous polyurethane dispersions were synthesized by the reaction of poly(ε-caprolactone) and isophorone diisocyanate, extended with different mass ratios of chitosan and dimethylol propionic acid. Their chemical structures were characterized by using FTIR, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and thermal properties were determined by TGA. Incorporation of chitosan into the polyurethane backbone improved thermal stability. The hydrophilicity of the prepared polymers was also examined by contact angle measurements. For all samples, the contact angles increased by increasing the amount of chitosan. The increased contact angle is ascribed to the decrease of the hydrophilicity of the polyurethanes, which is reduced by the increasing amount of chitosan with respect to dimethylol propionic acid chain extender.     

Subpicosecond hard x-ray streak camera using single-photon counting

We have developed and characterized a hard x-ray accumulating streak camera that achieves subpicosecond time resolution by using single-photon counting. A high repetition rate of 2 kHz was achieved by use of a readout camera with built-in image processing capabilities. The effects of sweep jitter were removed by using a UV timing reference. The use of single-photon counting allows the camera to reach a high quantum efficiency by not limiting the divergence of the photoelectrons.     

Nickel versus copper: enhanced antibacterial activity in a series of new nickel(II) Schiff base complexes

Five new Ni(II) Schiff base complexes [NiL^x(Solv)₂] denoted by NiL^x, x = 1–5, were synthesized and characterized. The Schiff base ligands were synthesized from the condensation of 5-bromo-2-hydroxy-3-nitrobenzaldehyde with different aliphatic and aromatic diamines. The X-ray crystal structure of NiL³ was determined. The ligands and complexes were tested as antibacterial agents against two gram(+) and two gram(?) human pathogenic bacteria. The complexes showed moderate antibacterial activity against both gram type bacteria. The new Ni(II) complexes showed enhanced antibacterial activity compared to the previously reported Cu(II) complexes of the same ligands.     

Apple – biomorphic synthesis of porous ZnO nanostructures for glucose direct electrochemical biosensor

Biomorphic porous ZnO nanostructures were successfully synthesized via an aqueous sol–gel soaking process using pieces of apple flesh and skin as templates and employed for glucose direct electrochemical biosensor. The structure and morphology of ZnO nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). By modifying glassy carbon electrode with the biomorphic ZnO nanostructures and Nafion, two glucose biosensors were constructed and their direct electrochemistry of glucose oxidase (GOD) was successfully investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The biomorphic porous ZnO nanostructures using apple skin template (S-ZnO) were more effective in facilitating the electron transfer of immobilized GOD than that of using flesh apple template (F-ZnO). This may be a result of the unique morphology and smaller average crystallite size of the S-ZnO nanostructure. GOD immobilized on Nafion-porous S-ZnO nanostructure composite display direct, reversible, and surface-controlled redox reaction with a detection limit of 10 μM, a response time of 7 s, high sensitivity of 23.4 μA/mM cm² and a fast heterogeneous electron transfer rate with a rate constant (k_s) of 3.9 s^?1. It was found that S-ZnO significantly has improved the direct electron transfer between GOD and glassy carbon electrode with good stability and reproducibility.     

Applications of Inorganic Polymeric Materials,III: Polyphosphazenes

Summary.  Polyphosphazenes form one of the most important and interesting classes of inorganic polymers having a backbone of alternating phosphorus and nitrogen atoms with phosphorus atom bearing two organic side groups. The most important feature of these polymers is the synthesis route which allows the side groups to be changed over a wide range to obtain a broad variety of products with different properties from elastomers to glasses, water soluble to hydrophobic polymers, bioinert to bioactive materials, and electrical insulators to conductors. In this paper, some novel applications of these polymers in biomedical materials and advanced devices are reviewed.     

Sensitive Voltammetric Method for Rapid Determination of Sarcosine as a New Biomarker for Prostate Cancer Using a TiO2 Nanoparticle/Ionic Liquid Modified Carbon Paste Electrode

Russian Journal of Electrochemistry - Sarcosine has been identified as a key metabolite marker for monitoring and early diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer (PCa), and it is detectable in the...     

A study of the effect of self-generated pressure gradient sources on the resistive filamentation instability

In the field of fast ignition scheme, self-generated magnetic fields via beam resistive filamentation have a significant role in the angular divergence of the relativistic electron beam, which can be affected by the intensity of other self-generated magnetic fields. In this context, the effects of pressure gradient sources arising from temperature and density gradient of the pellet along the beam flow direction are investigated. The results showed that the resistive filamentation instability can be strongly amplified compared to the fully homogeneous plasma. In this respect, for the distance away from the critical surface, the instability is protected for a longer wave number. Also, the beam and plasma properties such as the beam relativistic factor, the beam number density, and the degree of the plasma temperature anisotropy might be effective.     

Electrolyte-UNIQUAC-NRF Model Based on Ion Specific Parameters for the Correlation of Mean Activity Coefficients of Electrolyte Solutions

The Electrolyte-UNIQUAC-NRF excess Gibbs function was applied to estimate ion specific adjustable parameters of various salts by global optimization of the experimental activity coefficients of 54 electrolyte solutions. Twenty-three ion specific parameters were obtained for water and several cations and anions. The estimated individual ion parameters have been used to predict osmotic coefficient of electrolyte solutions. By using only the specific values for ions, the anion–cation and ion–water interaction parameters of different salts can be precisely estimated. Consequently, the interaction parameters of sparingly insoluble salts without experimental activity data can be easily calculated. For a case study, the solubility of CaSO₄ was predicted in relatively good agreement with experimental values over a wide range of temperatures up to 473.18 K.     

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy and cavity ring-down (CRD) absorption spectroscopy of oil-contaminated jet fuel using fiber-optic probes

Excitation emission matrix (EEM) and cavity ring-down (CRD) spectral signatures have been used to detect and quantitatively assess contamination of jet fuels with aero-turbine lubricating oil. The EEM spectrometer has been fiber-coupled to permit in situ measurements of jet turbine oil contamination of jet fuel. Parallel Factor (PARAFAC) analysis as well as Principal Component Analysis and Regression (PCA/PCR) were used to quantify oil contamination in a range from the limit of detection (10 ppm) to 1000 ppm. Fiber-loop cavity ring-down spectroscopy using a pulsed 355 nm laser was used to quantify the oil contamination in the range of 400 ppm to 100,000 ppm. Both methods in combination therefore permit the detection of oil contamination with a linear dynamic range of about 10,000.