Application of a cohesive zone element for the prediction of damage in nano/micro coating

Many tools in production technology are nowadays coated to obtain a satisfactory lifetime and degradation resistance. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to investigate antiadhesive and wear resistant coatings made of ceramics, plastics and metals produced by High Power Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering (HPPMS) technique [1]. A cohesive zone element technique (CZ) is applied to model the interactions of the coatings and the substrate surfaces (see [2]). This goes along with the investigations of the delamination and failure behavior of the involved surfaces. To illustrate the applicability of the model, several structural simulations are performed. The developed CZ element model is capable of modeling the separation, the contact and also the irreversible reloading conditions in both normal and tangential directions [3]. The model is further developed to be applicable for different structures including different bonding behaviors, with a higher stability. The talk concludes with a detailed discussion of the numerical results of different material and interface properties. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Introducing Organic Gas Steam-Liquid Extraction as a New Preconcentration Method for Benzene,Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene Determination in Water Samples by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detection

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - In this study, for the first time, the organic gas steam-liquid extraction by a special hand-made cell was used as a simple and inexpensive preconcentration...     

Synthesis of Polymer Nanoparticles in the Presence of Diatoms as Sustainable Bio-Templates

Colloid Journal - Preparation of complex nano- and micron-sized non-spherical particulate geometries still remains a challenge. One potential approach is the utilization of natural templates with...     

Label-free PSA electrochemical determination by seed-mediated electrochemically-deposited gold nanoparticles on an FTO electrode

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - A facile and sensitive approach is introduced to precisely determine trace amounts of prostate specific antigen (PSA) by gold nanostructures deposited on...     

Riboflavin as a green sorbent in dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction of several pesticides from fruit juices combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

A vortex-assisted dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction procedure using a new and green sorbent was developed as a simple, fast, and efficient sample preparation method for the extracting five pesticides in several fruit juice samples. In this study, for the first time, riboflavin was used as an efficient sorbent. A few milligrams of riboflavin was directly added into the aqueous solution containing the analytes to adsorb them. After adsorption the analytes, they were desorbed and more concentrated by a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction procedure. The influence of several effective parameters such as amount of riboflavin, pH, vortex time, eluent nature and volume, and extraction solvent type and volume on the extraction efficiency was investigated. In optimal conditions, linear ranges of the calibration curves were broad. The limits of detection and quantification were attained in the ranges of 0.56–1.5  and 1.9–0.52 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The proposed method demonstrated to be suitable for concurrent extraction of the studied pesticides in various fruit juice samples with high enrichment factors (320–360) and precision (relative standard deviation ≤7.8% for intra- [n = 6] and interday [n = 4] precisions at a concentration of 25 ng mL⁻¹ of each pesticide).     

Gold Spherical and Flake Assemblies Fabrication Through Calcination of Gold Nanoparticles Incorporated Poly(acrylonitrile) Nanofibers

Journal of Cluster Science - This work reports on the outcome of the calcination of gold nanoparticles incorporated polyacrylonitrile nanofibers in air which results in the formation of gold...     

Development of a Wine Metabolomics Approach for the Authenticity Assessment of Selected Greek Red Wines

Wine metabolomics constitutes a powerful discipline towards wine authenticity assessment through the simultaneous exploration of multiple classes of compounds in the wine matrix. Over the last decades, wines from autochthonous Greek grape varieties have become increasingly popular among wine connoisseurs, attracting great interest for their authentication and chemical characterization. In this work, 46 red wine samples from Agiorgitiko and Xinomavro grape varieties were collected from wineries in two important winemaking regions of Greece during two consecutive vintages and analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QToF-MS). A targeted metabolomics methodology was developed, including the determination and quantification of 28 phenolic compounds from different classes (hydroxycinnamic acids, hydroxybenzoic acids, stilbenes and flavonoids). Moreover, 86 compounds were detected and tentatively identified via a robust suspect screening workflow using an in-house database of 420 wine related compounds. Supervised chemometric techniques were employed to build an accurate and robust model to discriminate between two varieties.     

Factors affecting the morphology of benzoyl peroxide microsponges

Benzoyl peroxide (BPO) is primarily used in the treatment of mild to moderate acne. However, its application is associated with skin irritation. It has been shown that encapsulation and controlled release of BPO could reduce the side effect while also reducing percutaneous absorption when administered to the skin. The aim of the present investigation was to design and formulate an appropriate encapsulated form of BPO, using microsponge technology, and explore the parameters affecting the morphology and other characteristics of the resultant products employing scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Benzoyl peroxide particles were prepared using an emulsion solvent diffusion method by adding an organic internal phase containing benzoyl peroxide, ethyl cellulose and dichloromethane into a stirred aqueous phase containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Different concentrations of BPO microsponges were incorporated in lotion formulations and the drug release from these formulations were studied. The SEM micrographs of the BPO microsponges enabled measurement of their size and showed that they were spherical and porous. Results showed that the morphology and particle size of microsponges were affected by drug:polymer ratio, stirring rate and the amount of emulsifier used. The results obtained also showed that an increase in the ratio of drug:polymer resulted in a reduction in the release rate of BPO from the microsponges. The release data showed that the highest and the lowest release rates were obtained from lotions containing plain BPO particles and BPO microsponges with the drug:polymer ratio of 13:1, respectively. The kinetics of release study showed that the release data followed Peppas model and the main mechanism of drug release from BPO microsponges was diffusion.     

Prospects of anionic nanolipoplexes in nanotherapy: transmission electron microscopy and light scattering studies

Currently nanosystems composed of polynucleotides and lipid vesicles (nanolipoplexes) are considered to be promising tools for gene therapeutics. Successful in vivo application of these vectors depends on their physicochemical, technological and biological characteristics including morphology, size distribution, molecular interactions and stability. Anionic nanoliposomes (DPPC:DCP:CHOL) were prepared by two different techniques, namely the conventional thin-film hydration method followed by extrusion, and the heating method (HM), in which no volatile solvent or detergent is used. A non-viral and non-cationic gene transfer vector was constructed by incorporating plasmid DNA (pcDNA3.1/His B/lacZ) to the HM-nanoliposomes by the electrostatic mediation of Ca²⁺ ions. Transfection efficiency of the nanolipoplexes was evaluated using a human bronchial epithelial cell line (16HBE14o-) in the presence of serum. Particle characterisation, stability of the formulations and lipid–DNA interaction studies were performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light scattering. TEM pictures of nanolipoplexes showed presence of two to four closely packed vesicles with signs of fusion. Efficient delivery of plasmid DNA and subsequent β-galactosidase expression was achieved using the anionic nanolipoplexes. Transfection efficiency increased with lipid:DNA ratio up to 7:1 (w/w), where transfection efficiency was 12-fold higher than in untreated cells. Further increase in lipid ratio decreased transfection. These nanolipoplexes appear to be safe, stable and efficient in the protection and delivery of DNA to different cells and tissues.     

Electrochemical determination of captopril in the presence of acetaminophen,tryptophan, folic acid,and l-cysteine at the surface of modified carbon nanotube paste electrode

Ionics - A novel carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with 2,2′-[1,7–heptanediylbis(nitrilomethylidene)]-bis(4-hydroxyphenol) (DHB) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was prepared. At first,...