The effect of silica nanoparticles on the stability of aqueous foams

An experimental study was performed on aqueous foams stabilized by a mixture of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) and negatively-charged silica nanoparticles. The effects of the nanoparticles on the stability of foams at different HTAB concentrations were investigated. The foams were characterized by measuring their foamability and stability. Rheological behavior of the foams was also studied. Furthermore, rheology of the air–water interfaces was studied in the linear and nonlinear deformation ranges. The thickness of the monolayer at the interface was measured. The actual size of the silica nanoparticles at the air–water interface was measured by transmission electron microscopy. Based on these measurements, the interaction between the monolayers across the foam film containing HTAB and nanoparticles was investigated. Smaller silica nanoparticles (i.e. diameter less than 10?nm) adsorbed at the air–water interface whereas the larger particles remained in the sub-phase or in the bulk liquid phase. It was found that these nanoparticles strongly influenced the foaming behavior at the low HTAB concentrations (i.e. below the CMC). A Langmuir-type monolayer was formed. The presence of the nanoparticles at the air–water interface provided mechanical strength to the foam films and prevented their rupture. This hindered coalescence of the bubbles, which resulted in a stable foam.     

Electroactive core-shell nanocluster films of heme proteins, polyelectrolytes, and silica nanoparticles

Novel protein core-shell nanocluster films were assembled layer by layer on solid surfaces. In the first step, positively charged heme protein hemoglobin (Hb) or myoglobin (Mb) and negatively charged poly(styrenesulfonate) (PSS) were alternately adsorbed on the surface of SiO2 nanoparticles, forming core-shell SiO2-(protein/PSS)m nanoclusters. In the second step, the SiO2-(protein/PSS)m nanoclusters and polycationic poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) were assembled layer by layer on various solid substrates, forming [[SiO2-(protein/PSS)m]/PEI]n films. Various techniques were used to characterize the nanoclusters and monitor the film growth. [[SiO2-(protein/PSS)m]/PEI]n films at pyrolytic graphite (PG) electrodes exhibited well-defined, chemically reversible cyclic voltammetric reduction-oxidation peaks characteristic of the heme Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox couples. The proteins in the films retained near native conformations in the medium pH range, and the films catalyzed electrochemical reduction of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Advantages of the nanocluster films over the simple [SiO2/protein]n layer-by-layer films include a larger fraction of electroactive protein and higher specific biocatalytic activity. Using this approach, biocatalytic activity can be tailored and controlled by varying the number of bilayers deposited on the nanoparticle cores and the number of nanocluster layers on electrodes.     

Controlled synthesis of fluorescent silica nanoparticles inside microfluidic droplets

We study the droplet-based synthesis of fluorescent silica nanoparticles (50-350 nm size) in a microfluidic chip. Fluorescein-isothiocyanate (FITC) dye is first chemically linked to aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) in ethanol and this reaction product is subsequently mixed with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) to yield a fluorescent silicon alkoxide precursor solution. The latter reacts with an aqueous ethanol-ammonia hydrolysing mixture inside droplets, forming fluorescent silica nanoparticles. The droplets are obtained by pinching-off side-by-side flowing streams of alkoxide solution/hydrolysing mixture on a microfluidic chip using a Fluorinert oil continuous phase flow. Synthesis in droplets leads to a faster reaction and allows drastically improved nanoparticle size uniformity (down to 3% relative standard deviation for 350 nm size particles) when compared to conventional bulk synthesis methods, thanks to the precise control of reagent concentrations and reaction times offered by the microfluidic format. Incorporating FITC inside silica nanoparticles using our method leads to reduced dye leakage and increases the dye's stability, as evidenced by a reduced photochemical bleaching compared to a pure FITC solution.     

Impact of the post-treatment conditions of parent silica on the silanization of n-octadecyl bonded silica packings in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Native mesoporous silica beads were subjected to a sequence of post-treatment procedure including hydrochloric acid treatment, calcination and subsequent rehydroxylation. The post-treated silica beads were converted into RP-18 silica by silanization with monochloro- and dimethoxy-n-octadecylsilanes, respectively. The influence of post-treatments and silanization conditions on the physico–chemical characteristics and on the chromatographic behaviour of the RP-silicas was studied. Also the changes of the pore structural parameters and the silanol group densities during the post-treatment and silanization were assessed.     

Electrowetting of nonwetting liquids and liquid marbles

Transport of a water droplet on a solid surface can be achieved by differentially modifying the contact angles at either side of the droplet using capacitive charging of the solid-liquid interface (i.e., electrowetting-on-dielectric) to create a driving force. Improved droplet mobility can be achieved by modifying the surface topography to enhance the effects of a hydrophobic surface chemistry and so achieve an almost complete roll-up into a superhydrophobic droplet where the contact angle is greater than 150 degrees . When electrowetting is attempted on such a surface, an electrocapillary pressure arises which causes water penetration into the surface features and an irreversible conversion to a state in which the droplet loses its mobility. Irreversibility occurs because the surface tension of the liquid does not allow the liquid to retract from these fixed surface features on removal of the actuating voltage. In this work, we show that this irreversibility can be overcome by attaching the solid surface features to the liquid surface to create a liquid marble. The solid topographic surface features then become a conformable "skin" on the water droplet both enabling it to become highly mobile and providing a reversible liquid marble-on-solid system for electrowetting. In our system, hydrophobic silica particles and hydrophobic grains of lycopodium are used as the skin. In the region corresponding to the solid-marble contact area, the liquid marble can be viewed as a liquid droplet resting on the attached solid grains (or particles) in a manner similar to a superhydrophobic droplet resting upon posts fixed on a solid substrate. When a marble is placed on a flat solid surface and electrowetting performed it spreads but with the water remaining effectively suspended on the grains as it would if the system were a droplet of water on a surface consisting of solid posts. When the electrowetting voltage is removed, the surface tension of the water droplet causes it to ball up from the surface but carrying with it the conformable skin. A theoretical basis for this electrowetting of a liquid marble is developed using a surface free energy approach.     

Stable water and glycerol marbles immersed in organic liquids: from liquid marbles to Pickering-like emulsions

Water and glycerol marbles coated with various powders and immersed in organic liquids gave rise to water-in-oil and glycerol-in-oil Pickering-like emulsions. Non-polar oils such as polydimethylsiloxane, toluene, xylenes and chlorinated solvents supported the formation of emulsions, whereas polar liquids such as dimethylsulfoxide, N,N,-dimethylformamide, acetone and ethanol did not. It is demonstrated that there is a direct contact between a liquid filling the immersed marble and the surrounding liquid. A phenomenological theory of the marbles' sinking into emulsion is proposed.     

Formation of liquid marbles and wetting transitions

The formation of liquid marbles was studied in the situation where hydrophobic particles coating the marbles "come from air". Droplets of water/ethanol solutions of various concentrations were coated with three kinds of powders: polytetrafluoroethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride and polyethylene. We established that there exists a critical concentration of ethanol, and correspondingly a critical surface tension of the water/ethanol solution allowing formation of liquid marbles. A critical surface tension depends on the kind of the powder. In parallel, wetting transitions of water/ethanol solutions were studied on the layers of the same polymer powders. The onset of wetting transitions on the powders took place at the concentrations of ethanol coinciding with those enabling the formation of liquid marbles. Wetting transitions stipulate the formation of liquid marbles when a droplet is deposited on a layer of hydrophobic powder. This assumption was validated by the experiments performed with di-iodomethane and glycerol.     

Rheology of particulate rafts,films, and foams

Liquid foam exhibits remarkable rheological behavior although it is made with simple fluids: it behaves similar to a solid at low shear stress but flows similar to a liquid above a critical shear stress. Such properties, which have been proved to be useful for many applications, are even enhanced by adding solid particles. Depending on their hydrophobicity and size, the particles can have different geometrical configurations at the mesoscopic scale, that is, at the air–liquid interfaces, in the films, or in the interstices between the bubbles. In this review, we present rheological studies performed on granular rafts and films, on spherical armored interfaces, on gas marbles, and on aqueous foams laden with hydrophilic grains.     

The effects of silica nanoparticles on blue-phase liquid crystals

We investigate the effects of hydrophobic silica nanoparticles (SNs) on blue-phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). The optical microscope and reflection spectra observation reveal that a tiny hydrophobic SN dopant stabilises the BPLC phase, and widens the temperature range of the BP I phase. Furthermore, the doped dilute SNs can fine-tune their positions to relax the formation stress of the BPLC lattices, and slightly increase the platelet sizes of the BPLCs. The doped SNs also decrease the driving voltage and response time of the BPLC cell, because the added SNs decrease the elastic constant of the LC host and the relaxation time constant of the BPLC mixture.     

Application of liquid phase deposited titania nanoparticles on silica spheres to phosphopeptide enrichment and high performance liquid chromatography packings

A novel core-shell composite (SiO(2)-nLPD), consisting of micrometer-sized silica spheres as a core and nanometer titania particles as a surface coating, was prepared by liquid phase deposition (LPD). Here, we show the resulting core-shell composite to have better efficient and selective enrichment for mono- and multi-phosphopeptides than commercially available TiO(2) spheres without any enhancer. The material exhibited favorable characteristics for HPLC, which include narrow pore size distribution, high surface area and pore volume. We also show that the core-shell composite can efficiently separate adenosine phosphate compounds due to the Lewis acid-base interaction between titania and phosphate group when used as HPLC packings. After coating the silica sphere with titania by LPD, the silanol of silica spheres will be shielded and that the stationary phase, C(18) bonded SiO(2)-3LPD, could be used under extreme pH condition.     

Chiral nematic assemblies of silver nanoparticles in mesoporous silica thin films

Silver nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized inside mesoporous silica films with chiral nematic structure. Circular dichroism measurements of the silver NP-loaded silica films show NP-based optical activity in the vicinity of the surface plasmon resonance. These materials, with an optical response associated with the chiral assembly of metal NPs, may be useful for developing new sensors.     

Surfactant in the gaseous phase I. Formation of foams and thin liquid films

A new possibility of obtaining foams and single thin liquid films by supplying a surfactant through the gaseous phase is presented. Argon saturated with vapors ofn-amyl orn-decyl alcohol was passed through the water phase and formation of the foam was measured as a function of time, gas flow rate, and volume of the water phase. Formation and properties of microscopic thin liquid films were measured as a function of the time of their contact with the surfactant vapors. Two possible mechanisms of foam formation by supplying surfactant via the gaseous phase are discussed. A theoretical model of surfactant dissolution is presented and its predictions are compared with the experimental results. It is shown that foam formation resulted mainly from dissolution of the surfactant vapors in the water phase.     

The effectively specific recognition of bovine serum albumin imprinted silica nanoparticles by utilizing a macromolecularly functional monomer to stabilize and imprint template

Structural stability of the template is one of the most important considerations during the preparation of protein imprinting technology. To address this limitation, we propose a novel and versatile strategy of utilizing macromolecularly functional monomers to imprint biomacromolecules. Results from circular dichroism and synchronous fluorescence experiments reflect the macromolecularly functional monomers tendency to interact with the protein surface instead of permeating it and destroying the hydrogen bonds that maintain the protein’s structural stability, therefore stabilizing the template protein structure during the preparation of imprinted polymers. The imprinted polymers composed of macromolecularly functional monomers or their equivalent micromolecularly functional monomers over silica nanoparticles were characterized and carried out in batch rebinding test and competitive adsorption experiments. In batch rebinding test, the imprinted particles prepared with macromolecularly functional monomers exhibited an imprinting factor of 5.8 compared to those prepared by micromolecularly functional monomers with the imprinting factor of 3.4. The selective and competitive adsorption experiments also demonstrated the imprinted particles made by macromolecularly functional monomers possessed much better selectivity and specific recognition ability for template protein. Therefore, using macromolecularly functional monomers to imprint may overcome the mutability of biomacromolecule typically observed during the preparation of imprinted polymers, and thus promote the further development of imprinting technology.     

Influence of silanization on voltammetry at electrodes modified with silica films of controlled porosity formed by electrochemically initiated sol-gel processing

Silica sol-gel (SG) films with templated pores were deposited on glassy carbon (GC) electrodes by an electrochemically initiated process. Generation-4 poly(amidoamine), PAMAM, dendrimer was included in the tetraethoxysilane precursor to facilitate pore formation. The PAMAM adsorbs to the GC, which blocks SG formation at those sites on the electrode. The pore size was 10?±?5?nm. After removal of the PAMAM, cyclic voltammetry of Fe(CN)₆ ^3? and Ru(NH₃)₆ ³⁺ at pH?6.2 showed that the residual negative charge on the silica attenuated the current for the former and increased the current for the latter, presumably by electrostatic repulsion and ion-exchange preconcentration, respectively. This premise was supported by repeating the measurements at the isoelectric point. Methylation of the silanol sites was used to eliminate the charge of the SG. At the end-capped SG, the voltammetry of Fe(CN)₆ ^3? and Ru(NH₃)₆ ³⁺ yielded currents that were independent of pH over the range 2.1 to 7.2. Circumventing the need for the silanization by using (3-glycidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane as the sol-gel precursor failed because the oxygen plasma treatment to remove the PAMAM attacked the organically modified sol-gel backbone. The resulting modified electrode mitigated the influence of proteins on the voltammetry of test species and stabilized functionalize nanoparticle catalysts under hydrodynamic conditions.