Supercritical CO2-assisted atomization for deposition of cellulose nanocrystals: an experimental and computational study

Nanoparticle spray deposition finds numerous applications in pharmaceutical, electronics, manufacturing, and energy industries and has shown great promises in engineering the functional properties of the coated parts. However, current spray deposition systems either lack the required precision in controlling the morphology of the deposited nanostructures or do not have the capacity for large-scale deposition applications. In this study, we introduce a novel spray system that uses supercritical CO₂ to assist the atomization process and create uniform micron-size water droplets that are used as cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) carriers. CNCs are selected in this study as they are abundant, possess superior mechanical properties, and contain hydroxyl groups that facilitate interaction with neighboring materials. We fundamentally investigate the effect of different process parameters, such as injection pressure, gas-to-liquid ratio, the axial distance between the nozzle and substrate, and CNC concentration on the final patterns left on the substrate upon evaporation of water droplets. To this end, we show how tuning process parameters control the size of carrier droplets, dynamics of evaporation, and self-assembly of CNCs, which in turn dictate the final architecture of the deposited nanostructures. We will particularly investigate the morphology of the nanostructures deposited after evaporation of micron-size droplets that has not been fully disclosed to date. Different characterization techniques such as laser diffraction, polarized microscopy, and high-resolution profilometry are employed to visualize and quantify the effect of each process parameter. Numerical simulations are employed to inform the design of experiments. Finally, it is shown that the fabricated nanostructures can be engineered based on the size of the carrier droplets controlled by adjusting spray parameters and the concentration of nanoparticles in the injected mixture. Process parameters can be selected such that nanoparticles form a ring, disk, or dome-shaped structure. Moderate operational conditions, simplicity, and time efficiency of the process, and use of abundant and biodegradable materials, i.e., water, CNCs, and CO₂ promote the scalability and sustainability of this method.

     

Green synthetic approaches for biologically relevant organic compounds

The present review aims to present some framework of the effective and diverse green methodologies in conventional and unconventional media including water, solar energy, ionic liquids, ultrasonication and bio-based catalysts which constitute an important goal in organic synthesis and can be used to strengthen conventional laboratory techniques.     

Meet the Board of ChemistryOpen: Sheshanath V. Bhosale

Sheshanath V. Bhosale received his PhD from Freie University Berlin (Germany) in supramolecular chemistry under the supervision of Prof. J. H. Fuhrhop in 2004. He then pursued his postdoctoral studies with Prof. S. Matile at University of Geneva (Switzerland) under the auspices of a Roche Foundation Fellowship. This was followed by a stay at Monash University (Australia) for 5 years as an ARC-APD Fellow. He worked at RMIT University, Melbourne (Australia) for 6 years as ARC-Future Fellowship. Currently, Prof. Bhosale is working at the Department of Chemistry, Goa University (India) as a UGC-FRP Professor, His research interests lie in the design and synthesis of π-functional materials, especially small molecules, for sensing, biomaterials, and supramolecular chemistry applications. So far, Prof. Bhosale has produced 185 research articles and his work has been cited more than 4400 times, giving him an h-index of 32. He currently serves as an active Editorial Board member for ChemistryOpen.     

Simple and Efficient Synthesis of 5-Substituted-3-phenyl-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one Derivatives from S-Amino Acids and Phenylisothiocyanate in Et3N/DMF-H2O

A concise approach for the transformation of various S-amino acids into the 5-alkyl-3-phenyl-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-one heterocycles using phenylisothiocyanate is described. Phenylthiohydantoins of amino acid were synthesized at room temperature in Et₃N/DMF-H₂O with easy workup and excellent yields.