Defects-enhanced dissociation of H2 on boron nitride nanotubes

With the density-functional theory and nudged elastic band method, the adsorption and dissociation of the hydrogen molecule on the boron nitride (BN) nanotubes with and without defects are studied theoretically. Hydrogen molecule physically adsorbs on the surface of the BN layer and nanotubes. The dissociation of the hydrogen molecule on the surface of the perfect BN layer and nanotubes is endothermic, and the energy barrier reduces with the decrease of the diameter of the tubes, while it is still larger than 2.0 eV for the (7,0) BN nanotube. Antisite, carbon substitutional, vacancy, and Stone-Wales 5775 defects on the wall of the tube are considered. With the presence of the defects, the dissociation of the hydrogen molecule becomes exothermic and the dissociation barrier can be reduced to about 0.67 eV.     

Net adsorption: a thermodynamic framework for supercritical gas adsorption and storage in porous solids

The thermodynamic treatment of adsorption phenomena is based on the Gibbs dividing surface, which is conceptually clear for a flat surface. On a flat surface, the primary extensive property is the area of the solid. As applications became more significant, necessitating microporous solids, early researchers such as McBain and Coolidge implemented the Gibbs definition by invoking a reference state for microporous solids. The mass of solid is used as a primary extensive property because surface area loses its physical meaning for microporous solids. A reference state is used to fix the hypothetical hyperdividing surface typically using helium as a probe molecule, resulting in the commonly used excess adsorption; experimentalists measure this reference state for each new sample. Molecular simulations, however, provide absolute adsorption. Theoreticians perform helium simulations to convert absolute to excess adsorption, mimicking experiments for comparison. This current structure of adsorption thermodynamics is rigorous (if the conditions for reference state helium measurements are completely disclosed) but laborious. In addition, many studies show that helium, or any other probe molecule for that matter, does adsorb, albeit to a small extent. We propose a novel thermodynamic framework, net adsorption, which completely circumvents the use of probe molecules to fix the reference state for each microporous sample. Using net adsorption, experimentalists calibrate their apparatus only once without any sample in the system. Theoreticians can directly calculate net adsorption; no additional simulations with a probe gas are necessary. Net adsorption also provides a direct indication of the density enhancement achieved (by using an adsorbent) over simple compression for gas (e.g., hydrogen) storage applications.     

Controlling and manipulating supported phospholipid monolayers as soft resist layers for fabricating chemically micropatterned surfaces

Chemically micropatterned surfaces have broad applications in many fields. In this paper, we report a new method for preparing chemically micropatterned surfaces by controlling and manipulating supported phospholipid monolayers as soft resist layers with molecular-level precision. First, we introduce self-assembled supported phospholipid monolayers on solid surfaces and use a microcontact lift-up process to create micropatterned phospholipid monolayers (with micrometer resolution) on the surface. Next, the micropatterned phospholipid monolayers can function as "soft" resist layers to protect underlying solid substrates and create either positive or negative chemically micropatterned surfaces during subsequent treatments. Unlike traditional "hard" resist layers which can only be removed by using harsh chemical treatments, this novel soft resist layer only comprises a single layer of compact phospholipid; therefore, it can be easily removed by water rinsing after the preparation of micropatterns. This method is also versatile. It can be applied to prepare a protein microarray or silver patterns on solid substrates.     

活性自由基聚合法制备多壁碳纳米管表面槲皮素分子印迹聚合物及其应用

为了制备能有效分离富集药草中槲皮素的固相萃取柱,以丙烯酰胺(AM)修饰的碳纳米管为载体,三硫代碳酸酯(DBTTC)为可逆加成-断裂链转移剂(RAFT试剂),槲皮素为模板,甲基丙烯酸(MAA)为功能单体,乙二醇二甲基丙烯酸酯(EGDMA)为交联剂,乙腈为致孔剂,制备了槲皮素分子印迹聚合物,采用红外光谱、扫描电镜和热重分析对印迹材料进行表征,通过高效液相色谱(HPLC)研究聚合物的吸附性能和对底物的特异性识别能力。结果表明,通过活性自由基聚合法合成的多壁碳纳米管表面槲皮素分子印迹聚合具有更好的形态结构和吸附性能,且对槲皮素有很好的特异性识别能力。     

In deuterated water the unspecific adsorption of proteins is significantly slowed down: results of an SPR study using model organic surfaces

The control of unspecific adsorption of proteins to natural and technical surfaces plays an important role in biology and also for many applications. Organic model surfaces, e.g., self-assembled monolayers, are often used to identify fundamental surface and/or protein properties that rule protein adsorption. Some techniques involved in biointerface research require the use of heavy water, e.g. neutron scattering techniques. Also in NMR studies D(2)O is the solvent of choice when focusing on biomolecular and hydration dynamics. So far several studies have been concerned with the characterization of the unspecific adsorption of proteins from normal water buffers. In the present work, we report a comparison of the unspecific protein adsorption from normal and heavy water buffers. So far it has been assumed that the surface kinetic of the unspecific adsorption is unaffected by the substitution of water by D(2)O. However, for the four proteins investigated here, this assumption does not hold. The ratio k(H)/k(D) of the adsorption rate constants of the different buffer conditions describe the strength of the isotope effect. We have measured ratios between 1.0 and 2.6, indicating that the adsorption kinetics are strongly affected by a H(2)O-D(2)O substitution.     

Protein interactions with solid surfaces following contact with plasma and blood

Two aspects of blood protein interactions with solid surfaces are discussed. The first is competitive adsorption among the many proteins in the blood. The general factors which determine the composition of the adsorbed layer in any multicomponent protein system are considered and then related to current knowledge of competitive adsorption in blood. The latter pertains largely to the so-called Vroman effect whereby proteins are adsorbed and displaced from the surface in an ordered sequence. Secondly the possible transformation of adsorbed enzyme precursors into active enzymes by the agency of the surface is discussed. The example of the plasminogen-plasmin system is used to illustrate this discussion.     

How Low Can You Go? Low Densities of Poly(ethylene glycol) Surfactants Attract Stealth Proteins

It is now well‐established that the surface chemistry and “stealth” surface functionalities such as poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains of nanocarriers play an important role to decrease unspecific protein adsorption of opsonizing proteins, to increase the enrichment of specific stealth proteins, and to prolong the circulation times of the nanocarriers. At the same time, PEG chains are used to provide colloidal stability for the nanoparticles. However, it is not clear how the chain length and density influence the unspecific and specific protein adsorption keeping at the same time the stability of the nanoparticles in a biological environment. Therefore, this study aims at characterizing the protein adsorption patterns depending on PEG chain length and density to define limits for the amount of PEG needed for a stealth effect by selective protein adsorption as well as colloidal stability during cell experiments. PEG chains are introduced using the PEGylated Lutensol AT surfactants, which allow easy modification of the nanoparticle surface. These findings indicate that a specific enrichment of stealth proteins already occurs at low PEG concentrations; for the decrease of unspecific protein adsorption and finally the colloidal stability a full surface coverage is advised.     

没食子酸磁性表面分子印迹聚合物的制备与选择性识别性能

羟基苯甲酸类化合物用途广泛,极性较强,在复杂水溶液体系中这些类似物的分离纯化与分析非常困难。 本文以磁性Fe₃O₄纳米颗粒为载体,没食子酸(GA)为模板分子,制备了磁性表面分子印迹聚合物(MIP)。 利用透射电子显微镜、红外光谱、磁强测定等检测手段对MIP进行了结构表征。 并对其吸附性能进行研究,比较了该MIP对GA及其它3种结构类似物的吸附性能差异。 结果表明,制备的以GA为模板的磁性分子印迹聚合物为核壳球形结构,键合牢固,对GA的吸附动力学符合准二级动力学方程模型,吸附过程属于Langmuir单分子层吸附。 该聚合物对GA表现出优异的选择性识别能力,其吸附量(318 K时37.736 mg/g)远远高于结构类似物。 该磁性分子印迹聚合物对模板分子不仅具有特异识别能力,而且能够磁控分离,分离效率高,可用于固相萃取。     

青霉噻唑酸表面分子印迹聚合物的制备及其吸附性能的考察

针对青霉素药物及乳制品中致敏杂质青霉噻唑酸(PEOA)的特异性分离分析,采用表面印迹聚合法,以青霉噻唑酸为模板分子,制备青霉噻唑酸分子印迹聚合物(PEOA-MIPs)。通过静态吸附、吸附动力学及选择性实验考察其吸附性能,结果显示PEOA-MIPs对青霉噻唑酸有特异的识别能力和快速的传质速率,饱和吸附量为122.78 mg/g,静态吸附和吸附速率分别符合Langmuir模型和准二级动力学方程,表明MIPs的吸附是以化学吸附为主的单分子层吸附。利用扫描电镜(SEM)、红外光谱(FT-IR)和热重分析(TGA)对聚合物进行表征,结果显示聚合物成功接枝在硅胶表面,并具有良好的热稳定性。PEOA-MIPs对PEOA具有特异的识别能力,可用作萃取介质,为建立快速分离分析致敏杂质青霉噻唑酸的方法提供基础。     

Interfacial properties of hydrophilized poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) layers with various thicknesses

Biodegradable polyesters such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) copolymers (PLGA) are preferred materials for drug carrier systems although their surface hydrophobicity greatly limits their use in controlled drug delivery. PLGA thin films on a solid support blended with PEG-containing compound (Pluronic) were used as model systems to study the interfacial interactions with aqueous media. Degree of surface hydrophilization was assessed by wettability, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. Protein adsorption behavior was investigated by in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry. The degree of protein adsorption showed a good correlation with the hydrophilicity, and surface composition. Unexpectedly, the layer thickness was found to have a great impact on the interfacial characteristics of the polymer films in the investigated regime (20-200 nm). Thick layers presented higher hydrophilicity and great resistance to protein adsorption. That special behavior was explained as the result of the swelling of the polymer film combined with the partial dissolution of Pluronic from the layer. This finding might promote the rational design of surface modified biocompatible nanoparticles.     

Analysis on wetting and local dynamic properties of single water droplet on a polarized solid surface: a molecular dynamics study

Molecular dynamics simulations of single water droplets on a solid surface were carried out in order to investigate the effects that the Coulomb interaction between liquid and solid molecules has on wetting behavior by appending vertical electric polarization on a solid surface. The water droplet became more wettable both on upward and downward polarized surfaces, although structures of the adsorption layer appearing near the solid surface were clearly different, and the relation between droplet contact angle and surface polarization was also different for upward and downward polarization directions. The probability density distribution of molecular orientation around the adsorption layer indicated that preferable water molecule orientations varied largely by the surface polarization, and the rotational mobility around the preferable orientations was also affected. The dynamic property due to this rotational mobility was clearly captured by means of distribution of rotational diffusion coefficient, which potentially corresponded to local viscosity distribution.     

Evidence of a mobile precursor state in nonspecific protein adsorption

We study the dynamics of nonspecific protein adsorption using nanometer-micrometer-scale patterns involving hydrophobic domains in hydrophilic matrices. We report the discovery of a critical requirement for the sizes of the hydrophobic/adhesive pads for protein adsorption: the area of each adhesive pad must be more than 2 orders of magnitude larger than the footprint of a protein molecule before irreversible adsorption occurs. We attribute this to the minimal surface area sampled by a mobile protein molecule in a precursor state before irreversible adsorption occurs. Kinetic analysis based on the precursor model quantitatively accounts for the experimental observation and reveals that the distance sampled by the mobile precursor state before irreversible adsorption increases with the size of the protein molecule.     

A Modular Approach To Study Protein Adsorption on Surface Modified Hydroxyapatite

Biocompatible inorganic nano‐ and microcarriers can be suitable candidates for protein delivery. This study demonstrates facile methods of functionalization by using nanoscale linker molecules to change the protein adsorption capacity of hydroxyapatite (HA) powder. The adsorption capacity of bovine serum albumin as a model protein has been studied with respect to the surface modifications. The selected linker molecules (lysine, arginine, and phosphoserine) can influence the adsorption capacity by changing the electrostatic nature of the HA surface. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of linker‐molecule interactions with the HA surface have been performed by using NMR spectroscopy, zeta‐potential measurements, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, correlations to theoretical isotherm models have been calculated with respect to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. Lysine and arginine increased the protein adsorption, whereas phosphoserine reduced the protein adsorption. The results show that the adsorption capacity can be controlled with different functionalization, depending on the protein–carrier selections under consideration. The scientific knowledge acquired from this study can be applied in various biotechnological applications that involve biomolecule–inorganic material interfaces.     

Wettability of proteins adsorbed on silica glasses treated with fluorosurfactants

Generally, the apolar/polar surface is probed by water-wetting, which is measured using a method such as the sessile liquid drop method. However, when one tries to measure the wetting of a surface where biological macromolecules are adsorbed, there is the problem of a change in conformation due to drying the surface; hence, using this method in situ information cannot be obtained. We have developed a new method that can be used to measure the wettability of the adsorbed protein surface without drying. This method, the dropping time method, which is based on measuring the dropping time of a film of liquid along a protein-covered surface when this surface is instantaneously vertically removed from the protein solution. The adsorption behavior of four proteins (albumin, lysozyme, β-lactoglobulin, ovalbumin) on the surface of silica glass that has been treated with various fluorosurfactants is studied using this method. At a high concentration of protein, the surfaces of adsorbed proteins of any kind are fairly hydrophilic on glass treated with all fluorosurfactants. At a lower concentration of protein, the hydrophilicity of the protein layer depends on the kind of fluorosurfactant and also on the protein adsorption process. The apolar glass surface becomes more hydrophilic with increasing dipping time in the protein solution. On the other hand, the hydrophilic glass surface shows a complex change in the hydrophilicity with elapsed time after dipping it into a solution of albumin or lysozyme, i.e., the hydrophilicity decreases in the early stage of the adsorption and then increases with proceeding adsorption. Received: 19 March 1999 Accepted in revised form: 10 June 1999     

Displacement of hexanol by the hexanoic acid overoxidation product in alcohol oxidation on a model supported palladium nanoparticle catalyst

This work characterizes the adsorption, structure, and binding mechanism of oxygenated organic species from cyclohexane solution at the liquid/solid interface of optically flat alumina-supported palladium nanoparticle surfaces prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The surface-specific nonlinear optical vibrational spectroscopy, sum-frequency generation (SFG), was used as a probe for adsorption and interfacial molecular structure. 1-Hexanoic acid is an overoxidation product and possible catalyst poison for the aerobic heterogeneous oxidation of 1-hexanol at the liquid/solid interface of Pd/Al(2)O(3) catalysts. Single component and competitive adsorption experiments show that 1-hexanoic acid adsorbs to both ALD-prepared alumina surfaces and alumina surfaces with palladium nanoparticles, that were also prepared by ALD, more strongly than does 1-hexanol. Furthermore, 1-hexanoic acid adsorbs with conformational order on ALD-prepared alumina surfaces, but on surfaces with palladium particles the adsorbates exhibit relative disorder at low surface coverage and become more ordered, on average, at higher surface coverage. Although significant differences in binding constant were not observed between surfaces with and without palladium nanoparticles, the palladium particles play an apparent role in controlling adsorbate structures. The disordered adsorption of 1-hexanoic acid most likely occurs on the alumina support, and probably results from modification of binding sites on the alumina, adjacent to the particles. In addition to providing insight on the possibility of catalyst poisoning by the overoxidation product and characterizing changes in its structure that result in only small adsorption energy changes, this work represents a step toward using surface science techniques that bridge the complexity gap between fundamental studies and realistic catalyst models.     

Immobilization of metallothionein on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite for biosensor design

Immobilization of protein molecules on solid supports or surfaces in a controlled fashion is an important task for protein analysis at the solid/solution or solid/gas interface and biosensor fabrication. In this paper, the structure and biological activities of metallothionein (MT) layers immobilized on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surfaces by means of two different strategies based on unspecific adsorption/chemisorption (MT‐HOPG system) and covalent binding (MT‐modified HOPG system) were studied respectively. The MT layers obtained by covalent binding to a previously functionalized HOPG surface are smooth and show a close‐packed ordered monolayer in contrast to those obtained by direct adsorption of the protein on substrate, which are disordered and relatively rough. Both adsorbed proteins exhibit reversible electron transfer at 0.25 V (Ag/AgCl) after immersion in CuSO₄ solution, whereas redox current of MT‐modified HOPG system is four times larger than that of MT‐HOPG system. Moreover, the MTs adsorbed on bare HOPG surfaces are obviously denatured. All the above results show that covalent binding strategies lead to high structural regularity and mechanical stability of the adsorbed protein molecules with a maintained biological activity, which is prospective for applications in immobilizing MT on a transducer for biosensor design. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of quasi-isoelectric buffers to limit protein adsorption in capillary zone electrophoresis

The use of quasi-isoelectric buffers consisting of narrow pH cuts of carrier ampholytes (NC) has been investigated to limit protein adsorption on capillary walls during capillary zone electrophoresis experiments. To quantify protein adsorption on the silica surface, a method derived from that of Towns and Regnier has been developed. alpha-Lactalbumin (14 kDa, pI 4.8) and alpha-chymotrypsinogen A (25 kDa, pI 9.2) have been used as model proteins. Acidic narrow pH cuts of carrier ampholytes (NC, pH 3.0) obtained from fractionation of Serva 4-9 carrier ampholytes were used as BGE in bare-silica capillaries, and allowed to decrease significantly protein adsorption, as compared to experiments performed with classical formate buffer. The use of NC as BGE appeared to be as efficient as the use of polydimethylacrylamide coating to prevent protein adsorption. This increase of protein recovery when using NC was attributed to the interaction of carrier ampholytes with the silica surface, leading to a shielding of the capillary wall.     

Globular proteins at solid/liquid interfaces

Seven years have passed since one of us (W.N.) published the last comprehensive review on the mechanism of globular protein adsorption to solid/water interfaces. Since that time, annual contributions to the field have steadily increased and substantial progress has been made in a number of important areas. This review takes a fresh look at the driving force for protein adsorption by combining recent advances with key results from the past. The analysis indicates that four effects, namely structural rearrangements in the protein molecule, dehydration of (parts of) the sorbent surface, redistribution of charged groups in the interfacial layer, and protein surface polarity usually make the primary contributions to the overall adsorption behavior.     

Reflectometry in kinetic studies of immunological and enzymatic reactions on solid surfaces

An optical method is described, by means of which immunological and enzymatic reactions can be followed at a primary level on a solid surface, without labelling procedures. When plane-polarized light is reflected at a solid surface, there is a minimum in reflectance at a certain angle of incidence, the pseudo-Brewster angle. For example, a layer of protein adsorbed on a silicon surface increases the reflectance with increasing amount of adsorbed material. High sensitivity is obtained because of the large difference in refractive index between silicon and organic material; about 0.1 μg cm^?2 adsorbed protein can be detected. In a model system of human IgG and anti-human IgG, the primary adsorption of IgG on a hydrophobic surface is first measured, and on this IgG-coated surface the binding kinetics of anti-IgG could be measured. The kinetics of proteolytic degradation of IgG-coated surfaces by trypsin was also investigated.     

Microscopic Perspective on the Adsorption Isotherm of a Heterogeneous Surface

Adsorption of dissolved molecules onto solid surfaces can be extremely sensitive to the atomic-scale properties of the solute and surface, causing difficulties for the design of fluidic systems in industrial, medical and technological applications. In this communication, we show that the Langmuir isotherm for adsorption of a small molecule to a realistic, heterogeneous surface can be predicted from atomic structures of the molecule and surface through molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We highlight the method by studying the adsorption of dimethyl-methylphosphonate (DMMP) to amorphous silica substrates and show that subtle differences in the atomic-scale surface properties can have drastic effects on the Langmuir isotherm. The sensitivity of the method presented is sufficient to permit the optimization of fluidic devices and to determine fundamental design rules for controlling adsorption at the nanoscale.