Coagulation of charged microparticles in neutral gas and charge-induced gel transitions

Coagulation of charged particles was studied using the mean-field Smoluchowski equation. The coagulation equation was generalized for the case of a conserved system of charged particles. It was shown that runaway cluster growth (gelation) solutions exist if the charge-dipole (induced) interaction of clusters is included. When clusters are in thermal equilibrium with the ambient gas, the charge-dipole interaction dramatically enhances the aggregation process and considerably increases the likelihood of a gelation transition.     

Aggregation and disaggregation dynamics of sedimented and charged superparamagnetic micro-particles in water suspension

This article presents results on the aggregation and disaggregation kinetics on a 1μm diameter charged superparamagnetic particles dispersed in water under a constant uniaxial magnetic field in experiments with salt (KCl) added to the suspension in order to observe the behaviour of the system when the electrical properties of the particles have been screened. These particles have an electric charge and are confined between two separated 100μm thick quartz windows, and sediment near the charged bottom wall. The electrostatic interactions that take place in this experimental setup may affect the micro-structure and colloidal stability of the suspension and thus, the dynamics of aggregation and disaggregation.     

Cessation of Aggregate Growth

Various methods are available for reducing or ceasing growth of aggregating suspensions including the addition of highly charged adsorbents (such as gelatin), reduction of ionic strength by dilution, increase in surface charge by alteration in pH and reduction in suspension temperature. The effectiveness of each of these methods in stopping the aggregation of colloidalhematite without altering the aggregate size distribution is examined in this study. Reduction in aggregate temperature is found to be a particularly effective way of stopping the aggregation of hematite while preserving size distribution information.     

Self-focusing dynamics in monopolarly charged suspensions

The Smoluchowski equation for irreversible aggregation in suspensions of equally charged particles is studied. Accumulation of charges during the aggregation process leads to a crossover from power-law to sublogarithmic cluster growth at a characteristic time and cluster size. For larger times the suspension is usually called stable, although aggregation still proceeds slowly. In this regime the size distribution evolves towards a universal scaling form, independent of any parameter included in the theory. The relative width falls off to a universal value sigma(infinity)(r) approximately 0.2017 that is much smaller than in the uncharged case. We conjecture that sigma(infinity)(r) is a lower bound for the asymptotic relative width for all physical systems with irreversible aggregation.     

混合正、负电性银胶体系的表面增强拉曼散射活性研究

通过化学还原的方法分别制备了具有正、负电性的纳米银胶 .利用透射电子显微镜表征了正、负电性银胶以及混合银胶体系中加入碱性品红分子后的聚集行为 .通过测定碱性品红分子在正、负电性银胶以及混合银胶体系中的表面增强拉曼光谱的变化 ,探讨了不同电性银胶基底对碱性品红表面增强拉曼活性的影响 .实验结果表明 ,混合溶胶体系所具有的不同于单一溶胶的聚集特性能有效的改善单银胶体系的表面增强拉曼散射活性 .     

Strategy for improved analysis of peptides by surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) involving positively charged nanoparticles

A strategy for improved surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements that extends the variety of analytes accessible to SERS analysis is developed. The strategy involves inducing aggregation by mixing positively charged nanoparticles which form SERS‐active clusters when mixed with negatively charged silver nanoparticles fabricated using the Lee–Meisel process. To make positively charged nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles using the traditional Lee–Meisel process are fabricated and coated with a thin layer of silica and the silica modified with silane chemistry. Analytes with a significant amount of negative charge exhibit strong Raman bands when the strategy using these fabricated, positively charged nanoparticles for inducing cluster formation is used, enabling their detection and analysis. We envision the use of positively charged nanoparticles in cluster formation for expanding the range of analytes that can be detected using SERS and hence the range of applications SERS can play a role in. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Force exerted on a conducting spherical particle near the plate of a plane capacitor

The potential energy and the interaction force of a conducting spherical particle and a similarly charged plane plate are calculated for relatively small distances. The force is calculated from the potential energy and the plate is represented as a conducting sphere whose radius is 100 times greater than the radius of the particle. It is assumed that the particle is not charged by the plate. The domains of parameters in which the particle is always repulsed from the plate and in which the attraction takes place are determined.     

二维情况下两组分带电囊泡形变耦合相分离的理论模拟研究

结合离散空间变分方法和耗散动力学研究了二维两组分带电囊泡的形变耦合相分离,系统地考察了囊泡带电量组分含量、带电组分的电荷密度、两组分间的相容性和温度等因素对形变耦合相分离动力学的影响.模拟结果表明电荷引入可增加不同组分间的表观相溶性.当温度较高时,静电相互作用可直接抑制囊泡相分离,避免了同种组分的团聚;当温度较低时,静电相互作用则可明显增加分相相区数目,使其呈微观相分离,从而避免了同种组分大范围的团聚.     

Combined effects of headgroup charge and tail unsaturation of lipids on lateral organization and diffusion of lipids in model biomembranes

Lateral organization and dynamics of lipids in plasma membranes are crucial for several cellular processes such as signal transduction across the membrane and still remain elusive.In this paper,using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation,we theoretically study the combined effects of headgroup charge and tail unsaturation of lipids on the lateral organization and diffusion of lipids in ternary lipid bilayers.In neutral ternary lipid bilayers composed of saturated lipids,unsaturated lipids,and cholesterols,under the conditions of given temperature and components,the main factor for the phase separation is the unsaturation of unsaturated lipids and the bilayers can be separated into liquid-ordered domains enriched in saturated lipids and cholesterols and liquid-disordered domains enriched in unsaturated lipids.Once the headgroup charge is introduced,the electrostatic repulsion between the negatively charged lipid headgroups will increase the distance between the charged lipids.We find that the lateral organization and diffusion of the lipids in the(partially) charged ternary lipid bilayers are determined by the competition between the headgroup charge and the unsaturation of the unsaturated lipids.In the bilayers containing unsaturated lipids with lower unsaturation,the headgroup charge plays a crucial role in the lateral organization and diffusion of lipids.The headgroup charge may make the lipid domains unstable and even can suppress phase separation of the lipids in some systems.However,in the bilayers containing highly unsaturated lipids,the lateral organization and diffusion of lipids are mainly dominated by the unsaturation of the unsaturated lipids.This work may provide some theoretical insights into understanding the formation of nanosized domains and lateral diffusion of lipids in plasma membranes.     

Aggregation of non-bonding molecules in a rapidly growing gel

The aggregation of non-bonding molecules in a rapidly growing gel is studied under three different conditions by means of Molecular Dynamics simulations. The aggregation takes place even under the unfavorable condition when the non-bonding molecules constitute only a small fraction of the total. The results also show that the morphology of the growing domains is different depending on the concentration of the non-bonding molecules. Received 30 November 1999     

Behavior of block-polyampholytes near a charged surface

The behavior of polyampholytes near a charged planar surface is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The investigated polyampholytes are overall electrically neutral and made up of oppositely charged units (called blocks) that are highly charged and of the the same length. The influence of block length and substrate's surface-charge-density on the adsorption behavior is addressed. A detailed structural study, including local monomer concentration, monomer mean height, and transversal chain size, is provided. It is demonstrated that adsorption is favored for long enough blocks and/or high enough Coulomb interface-ion couplings. By explicitly measuring the chain size in the bulk, it is shown that the charged interface induces either a swelling or a shrinkage of the transversal dimension of the chain depending, in a non trivial manner, on the block length.     

Space charge generation in flows of weakly conductive media with large difference of charged particles' mobilities

Electrification in boundary domains of flows of partially ionized multicomponent gas mixtures through channels whose conducting walls are exposed to a constant potential is studied. In such media, in the absence of applied electric fields, electrification is due to significantly different values of mobility of charged particles of opposite signs. The influence of the interaction of electrons and gas ions with the walls of the channel on the value of the space electric charge, the thickness and structure of the charged boundary layer and the value of the convective electric current is analyzed.     

Metachronal waves in a chain of rowers with hydrodynamic interactions

Poly(ε-caprolactone)/poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate) networks have been investigated by thermally stimulated depolarization currents (TSDC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The introduction of hydrophilic units (HEA) in the system aiming at tailoring the hydrophilicity of the system results in a series of copolymer networks with microphase separation into hydrophobic/hydrophilic domains. Polycaprolactone (PCL) crystallization is prevented by the topological constraints HEA units imposed in such heterogeneous domains. Moreover, the mobility of the amorphous PCL chains is enhanced as revealed by the main relaxation process which becomes faster. The glass transition of PHEA-rich domains shifts to lower temperatures, as the total amount of PCL in the copolymer increases, due to the presence of PCL units within the same region. The behaviour of the copolymer networks swollen with different content of water has been investigated to analyze the interaction between water molecules and hydrophobic/hydrophilic domains and provide further insights into the molecular structure of the system.     

Nucleation of magnetic bubble domains in iron garnet films by means of an electric probe

The possibility of the local nucleation of magnetic bubble domains from a single-domain state in an arbitrary region of a iron garnet film ((210) crystallographic orientation) by means of an electrically charged tip electrode has been experimentally demonstrated. The size of magnetic bubble domains nucleated near the contact point between the probe and sample depends on the magnitude of a DC voltage supplied to the probe. After the removal of the voltage, magnetic bubble domains move away from the probe, decreasing to the equilibrium radius.     

The Effect of ζ‐Potential and Hydrodynamic Size on Nanoparticle Interactions in Hydrogels

The ζ‐potential and hydrodynamic size (d_h) of nanoparticles (NPs) are systematically controlled by capping gold NPs (AuNPs) with polymers having different charges and treating them in NaCl solutions of diverse concentrations. Interactions between AuNPs in hydrogel are caused by chemical reactions induced by 1,4‐dithiothreitol. The effect of ζ‐potential is clear, as negatively charged AuNPs can be aggregated in neutral agarose gel, but the amount of aggregation is significantly affected by the magnitude of the negative surface charge on the AuNPs. However, all positively charged AuNPs show negligible aggregation in agarose gel with slightly negative polarity. The effect of d_h on AuNP aggregation is different from that of ζ‐potential. Although AuNPs with small d_h generally show more aggregation than those with large d_h, the amount of AuNP capping layer is critical. Thus, the amount of polymer present on NP surface needs to be considered to investigate the effect of d_h on AuNP aggregation. Through extended Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, Overbeek (XDLVO) theory, it is shown that the charges of the AuNPs and the hydrogel, as well as the d_h of the NPs, are related to electrostatic repulsion and steric hindrance, which affect AuNP aggregation in hydrogel.     

An anisotropic snowflake-like structural assembly of polymer-capped gold nanoparticles

Snowflake-like structural assembly of isotropic gold nanoparticles (GNPs) is reported. A modified polyamine method has been employed to synthesize positively charged GNPs in presence of a polymeric metaphosphate. This process yields fascinating dendritic self-assembled morphologies. Structural characterization revealed that there was aggregation of crystalline GNPs. The aggregates of GNPs formed in the initial stage of synthesis are assumed to act as the bulging seeds for final growth of complex morphologies at nanometer to micrometer length scale. Self-assembly of GNPs was found to be greatly influenced by the concentration of gold precursor. Diffusion limited aggregation of GNPs is suggested as the plausible mechanism for this nanoparticle self-organization process.     

Kinetic arrest in polyion-induced inhomogeneously charged colloidal particle aggregation

Polymer chains adsorbed onto oppositely charged colloidal particles can significantly modify the particle-particle interactions. For sufficient amounts of added polymers, the original electrostatic repulsion can even turn into an effective attraction and relatively large aggregates can form. The attractive interaction contribution between two particles arises from the correlated adsorption of polyions at the oppositely charged particle surfaces, resulting in a non-homogeneous surface charge distribution. Here, we investigate the aggregation kinetics of polyion-induced colloidal complexes through Monte Carlo simulation, in which the effect of charge anisotropy is taken into account by a DLVO-like inter-particle potential, as recentely proposed by Velegol and Thwar (Langmuir 17, 7687 (2001)). The results reveal that the aggregation process slows down due to the progressive increase of the potential barrier height upon clustering. Within this framework, the experimentally observed cluster phases in polyelectrolyte-liposome solutions can be interpreted as a kinetic arrested state.     

Stability of the equilibrium states of a charged bubble in a dielectric liquid

The stability of equilibrium states of a charged spherical bubble in dielectric fluid with respect to centrally symmetric variations of its volume is studied by analyzing a nonlinear equation describing radial oscillations of the bubble in the neighborhoods of its singularities. It is shown that only one of the two possible equilibrium states of the bubble is stable. The boundaries separating the domains in the physical parameter space are found that correspond to stable and unstable states. It is found that when the bubble carries an electric charge, the domains of physical parameters corresponding to equilibrium states of the bubble expand.     

Graphene oxide as a substrate for Raman enhancement

We report the properties of graphene oxide, a two-dimensional carbon nanomaterial, as a substrate for surface-enhanced Raman scattering. The graphene oxide substrate produced Raman enhancement for rhodamine 6G, melamine, and cephalexin. Intense characteristic D and G peaks of graphene oxide were observed when positively charged rhodamine 6G and melamine were used as the Raman probe. We attribute the appearance of D and G peaks to the aggregation of negatively charged graphene oxide.     

Anomalous angular momentum in the presence of a vortex

The angular momentum of a charged boson in the presence of a vortex is calculated using collective coordinates in the two-dimensional, abelian Higgs model. In agreement with already published assertions, angular momentum is found to be half-integer when the vortex flux is quantized in half-integer units.