Electrodialysis of Hydrosols of Ultradispersed Diamonds

The electrical conductivity of hydrosols of ultradispersed diamonds was studied. The electromembrane method for cleaning and concentrating of ultradispersed diamonds in hydrosols was considered. The influence exerted by the concentration of the dispersed phase on the electrical characteristics of the cleaning process was analyzed. A mathematical relation making it possible to evaluate the output characteristics of the process and to determine the geometrical characteristics of the apparatus was proposed.     

Study of the Composition and Physicochemical Properties of Diamond Hydrogels

Six fractions of ultradispersed diamonds with different aggregate sizes are separated from a hydrogel stable with respect to sedimentation by the step-by-step ultracentrifugation. Distribution of carbon phases and impurities between the fractions is studied, and the fraction densities are calculated and experimentally determined. The structure and surface chemical composition of the dispersed phase in the diamond hydrogel are shown to be nonuniform.     

Sorption of nitrogen-containing aromatic compounds on ultradispersed diamonds

Adsorption of a number of aniline and pyridine derivatives from water-acetonitrile solution on ultradispersed diamonds was investigated using dynamic sorption method. It was shown that the nature of functional substitutes and their position in molecules of nitrogen-containing compounds of pyridine and aniline have a pronounced effect on adsorption on the surface of ultradispersed diamonds. The dependence of chromatographic sorbate retention on the content of mobile phase could be described by a curve with a minimum. Such nonlinear relationship was explained by the change in the ratio of contribution of specific and non-specific interaction to the sorbate retention that was observed on varying the volume content of an organic component in mobile phase. The influence of temperature on sorption of pyridine and aniline derivatives on ultradisperesed diamonds was investigated. The changes in enthalpy and entropy factors of competitive sorption of sorbates were determined.     

NMR data on surface solvation of dispersed silica particles in frozen aqueous suspension

Liquid phase freezing-out combination with relaxation measurements was used for studying the surface solvation of dispersed silica particles. The structure of water-dimethyl sulfoxide complexes near the surface was obtained by measuring the temperature-dependent cross relaxation time of water protons.     

Adsorption properties of ultradispersed diamonds

The adsorption capacity of ultradispersed diamonds for synthetic dyes and medicinal preparations was studied.     

Synthesis and aggregation stability of europium oxohydroxide hydrosols

Europium oxohydroxide hydrosols that are resistant to aggregation have been obtained by the condensation method. The density of dispersed phase particles, phase composition and dispersity of the sols, electrokinetic potential of the particles, and its dependence on medium pH have been determined. The effect of dispersion medium pH on the mechanism and reversibility of particle aggregation has been studied. The nature of the aggregation stability of the synthesized europium oxohydroxide hydrosols has been discussed.     

Modification of polypropylene fibrous materials with ultradispersed polytetrafluoroethylene

The effects of narrowly and widely dispersed fractions of ultradispersed polytetrafluoroethylene on the structures of melt-spun polypropylene fibrous materials and the ultimate tensile half-cycle characteristics of polypropylene filaments and nonwoven materials have been studied via X-ray diffraction analysis, optical microscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry. It has been shown that the addition of 1–2% ultradispersed polytetrafluoroethylene, which exists as an individual phase in polypropylene, allows a significant increase in the relative tensile stress of the filament and its elastic modulus.     

Iron oxide modified diamond blends containing ultradispersed diamond

Iron oxide modified diamond blends containing different amounts of ultradispersed diamond were prepared and characterized by nitrogen physisorption, X-ray diffraction, temperature programmed reduction, M?ssbauer and IR spectroscopy. The catalytic behavior of these composite materials in methanol decomposition to hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane has been also studied. The initial state and phase transformations of the supported highly dispersed iron oxide particles in various pretreatment media, as well as their reductive and catalytic properties, strongly depend on the ultradispersed diamond content in the diamond blends.     

Influence of Allotropic Forms of Carbon on Formation and Cross-Linking of Heat-Resistant Polymer Binders

The thermochemical reactions of polyimide binder with various allotropic forms of carbon, fullerene C₆₀ and ultradispersed artificial diamonds, were studied by thermal and spectral analyses.     

Synthesis and Some Colloidal Properties of Hydrosols Prepared by the Hydrolysis of Copper(II) Nitrate

The synthesis of hydrosols of copper(II) basic salts by the hydrolysis of copper(II) nitrate in the presence of ammonia was developed. A pH range and an optimal molar ratio [Cu²⁺] : [OH^–] = 1.1 : 1.0, at which hydrosols stable with respect to sedimentation were formed, were determined. The average hydrodynamic radius of dispersed phase particles ranging from 220 to 280 nm was measured by the photon correlation spectroscopy. It was shown that the hydrosols can be stabilized by poly(vinyl alcohol), and its optimal concentration providing their aggregation stability was determined. The thresholds of fast coagulation of the initial and stabilized hydrosols in the presence of potassium chloride and ammonium sulfate were found.     

Composite electrochemical coatings with a carbon-containing dispersed phase or polytetrafluoroethylene

Composite electrochemical coatings based on nickel, zinc, and chromium were studied. The dispersed phase of these coatings is constituted by graphite, diamond, and polytetrafluoroethylene produced from wastes formed in manufacture of fluoroplastic and ultradispersed diamond produced from industrial waste. The conditions in which high-quality coatings with best characteristics, such as microhardness and corrosion resistance, were determined. The wear resistance was additionally found for the chromium-diamond coating.     

DNA-based magnetic nanoparticle assembly acts as a magnetic relaxation nanoswitch allowing screening of DNA-cleaving agents

Monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with complementary oligonucleotide sequences self-assemble into stable magnetic nanoassemblies resulting in a decrease of the spin-spin relaxation times (T2) of neighboring water protons. When these nanoassemblies are treated with a DNA cleaving agent, the nanoparticles become dispersed, switching the T2 of the solution back to original values. These qualities render the developed nanoparticles and their nanoassemblies as magnetic relaxation switches capable of screening for DNA-cleaving compounds by magnetic resonance methods such as MRI and NMR.     

A new NMR method for determining the particle thickness in nanocomposites, using T2,H-selective X{1H} recoupling

A new nuclear magnetic resonance approach for characterizing the thickness of phosphate, silicate, carbonate, and other nanoparticles in organic-inorganic nanocomposites is presented. The particle thickness is probed using the strongly distant-dependent dipolar couplings between the abundant protons in the organic phase and X nuclei (31P, 29Si, 13C, 27Al, 23Na, etc.) in the inorganic phase. This approach requires pulse sequences with heteronuclear dephasing only by the polymer or surface protons that experience strong homonuclear interactions, but not by dispersed OH or water protons in the inorganic phase, which have long transverse relaxation times T2,H. This goal is achieved by heteronuclear recoupling with dephasing by strong homonuclear interactions of protons (HARDSHIP). The pulse sequence alternates heteronuclear recoupling for approximately 0.15 ms with periods of homonuclear dipolar dephasing that are flanked by canceling 90 degrees pulses. The heteronuclear evolution of the long-T2,H protons is refocused within two recoupling periods, so that 1H spin diffusion cannot significantly dephase these coherences. For the short-T2,H protons of a relatively immobile organic matrix, the heteronuclear dephasing rate depends simply on the heteronuclear second moment. Homonuclear interactions do not affect the dephasing, even though no homonuclear decoupling is applied, because long-range 1H-X dipolar couplings approximately commute with short-range 1H-1H couplings, and heteronuclear recoupling periods are relatively short. This is shown in a detailed analysis based on interaction representations. The algorithm for simulating the dephasing data is described. The new method is demonstrated on a clay-polymer nanocomposite, diamond nanocrystals with protonated surfaces, and the bioapatite-collagen nanocomposite in bone, as well as pure clay and hydroxyapatite. The diameters of the nanoparticles in these materials range between 1 and 5 nm. Simulations show that spherical particles of up to 10 nm diameter can be characterized quite easily.     

Cross relaxation effects on the longitudinal relaxation rate of water in protein solutions

Non-selective and selective longitudinal relaxation rates were measured for water protons in protein solutions. The perturbations on water spin-lattice relaxation from cross relaxation between water and protein protons were shown to be significant at low temperature and small isotopic dilution.     

H NMR studies of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gels near the phase transition

The phase transition and critical phenomenon of equilibrium swollen poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (NIPA) hydrogels were studied by ¹H NMR spectroscopy in liquid solution mode. The quantitative NMR observation shows that the peak height and line width of polymer proton and of the HOD proton, and relaxation times of HOD proton all transitionally change as the temperature approaches the transition temperature. The relaxation times of water protons are also measured quantitatively, which shows that the temperature dependence of relaxation times of HOD on temperature before the transition is not consistent with relaxation theory based on the assumption of dominated dipolar interaction between like-spin nuclei and isotropic rotational motion. To explain the surprising relaxation behavior of HOD, we suggest that the amount of bound water in gels increases gradually with temperature at the approach of the phase transition. The pulsed-gradient spin-echo NMR experiments of NIPA gel confirm this suggestion. We believe that these results have important implications concerning the mechanism of the phase transition of NIPA hydrogels.     

Surface chemistry of ultradispersed diamonds

The type and amount of functional groups on the surface of ultradispersed diamonds were determined. The adsorption of potential-determining ions was studied in relation to various factors, and the surface charge density was evaluated. The influence exerted by thermal treatment in argon and hydrogen on the functional composition of the surface was analyzed.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Khimii, Vol. 77, No. 12, 2004, pp. 1956–1959.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Eremenko, Besedina, Obraztsova.     

Determining the sizes of micropores in activated charcoals by the pulsed NMR method

The pulsed NMR method was used to measure the nuclear spin-spin relaxation of protons of water adsorbed in micropores of activated charcoal (AC) samples with different porous structures. A correlation was found between the spin-spin relaxation time of water protons in AC with completely filled micropores and the volume density of water primary adsorption centers in the AC samples. An equation for approximating obtained dependences is proposed that allows us to determine the volume of micropores in AC.     

Hydration behavior of heart muscle studies by nuclear magnetic relaxation: Deuterium exchange of water protons in the myocardium

Proton transverse relaxation, deuterium and oxygen-17 NMR measurements on functional animal heart muscle were employed to study the distribution and exchange of water protons in the heart. Our nonlinear regression analysis of such data showed the presence of three proton transverse relaxation components that are likely to correspond, respectively, to two major types of water compartments in the heart muscle and the heart muscle matrix. A deuterium exchange study was undertaken to obtain additional information concerning the chemical exchange of water protons/deuterium within these two water compartments, and the effects of proton intermolecular dipolar interactions on the transverse relaxation of water protons. Our results are likely to influence the analysis and interpretation of MRI data for myocardium since it provides details of the microscopic water distribution in the myocardium which is important to the heart function.     

CPS K 221 Model of proton longitudinal magnetic relaxation in hydrated crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid)

Proton longitudinal magnetic relaxation time (T₁) measurements have been made at 30 MHz over a wide range of temperature for crosslinked poly(methacrylic acid), PMA, hydrated with H₂O as well as with D₂O. From the point of view of nuclear magnetic relaxation, PMA hydrogel is a multiregion system in which three proton regions (a, b, c) can be distinguished. Region a is regarded as to be formed by the nonexchangeable polymer protons, region b by the protons of -COOH · H₂O combinations, and region c by the protons of remaining water molecules. Cross relaxation between polymer and water protons and a log normal distribution of correlation times have been assumed to take place. Temperature dependences of the T₁ time for the particular regions have been determined, from which the distribution width parameter, the second moment and the intramolecular proton-proton distance for sorbed water have been calculated.     

Synthesis and Use of Highly Dispersed Zinc Oxide

Methods for synthesis of zinc oxide hydrosols by peptization and condensation were developed. The basic colloid-chemical properties of the sols were determined: electrokinetic properties, size and phase composition of particles, and stability of hydrosols against introduction of electrolytes. The possibility of obtaining antibacterial and UV-protecting cosmetic preparations from the hydrosols obtained was demonstrated.