Effects of added nonionic surfactant and inorganic salt on the rheology of sugar surfactant and CTAB aqueous solutions

The effect of adding tri(oxyethylene) dodecyl ether (C₁₂EO₃) on the phase and rheological behavior of sucrose hexadecanoate and CTAB aqueous solutions in the presence of added salt (NaBr) was investigated. Viscoelastic solutions are formed in CTAB and C₁₆SE systems upon addition of lipophilic nonionic surfactant C₁₂EO₃. The zero-shear viscosity shows a maximum at a certain mixing fraction of C₁₂EO₃, except in the case of the aqueous CTAB/C₁₂EO₃ system in the absence of salt. The rheological properties are strongly affected by the addition of salt to the CTAB systems but they remain unaltered in the case of C₁₆SE systems. In ionic systems, the mixing fraction of C₁₂EO₃ for the maximum viscosity depends on salt concentration.     

A swift dye uptake procedure for dye sensitized solar cells

Solar cells based on swift self-assembled sensitizer bis(tetrabutylammonium)-cis-di(thiocyanato)-N,N'-bis(4-carboxylato-4'-carboxylic acid-2,2'-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) (N719) on double layers of 12 + 4 microm thick nanocrystalline TiO2 films exhibit the incident monochromatic photon-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) 90% and show a short circuit current density of 17 mA cm(-2), 750 mV open circuit potential and 0.72 fill factor yielding power conversion efficiencies over 9.18% under AM 1.5 sun. For the first time highest power conversion efficiencies are obtained for dye sensitized solar cells using a swift self-assembled procedure.     

Stealth nanorods via the aqueous living crystallisation-driven self-assembly of poly(2-oxazoline)s

The morphology of nanomaterials critically influences their biological interactions. However, there is currently a lack of robust methods for preparing non-spherical particles from biocompatible materials. Here, we combine ‘living’ crystallisation-driven self-assembly (CDSA), a seeded growth method that enables the preparation of rod-like polymer nanoparticles, with poly(2-oxazoline)s (POx), a polymer class that exhibits ‘stealth’ behaviour and excellent biocompatibility. For the first time, the ‘living’ CDSA process was carried out in pure water, resulting in POx nanorods with lengths ranging from ∼60 to 635 nm. In vitro and in vivo study revealed low immune cell association and encouraging blood circulation times, but little difference in the behaviour of POx nanorods of different length. The stealth behaviour observed highlights the promising potential of POx nanorods as a next generation stealth drug delivery platform.

Triggered by heating, a poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline) block copolymer undergoes seeded growth in water forming length tuneable nanorods. Morphology and composition combine to impart low immune cell association and promising blood circulation lifetimes.     

Development of cysteine-modified screen-printed electrode for the chronopotentiometric stripping analysis of cadmium(II) in wastewater and soil extracts

Screen-printed carbon electrodes were fabricated with amino acid functionality by using in situ co-deposition of mercury and cysteine. The three-electrode configuration (graphite carbon working electrode, carbon counter electrode and silver/silver chloride reference electrode) incorporating a cysteine-modified working electrode exhibited good sensitivity towards cadmium(II). Several experimental variables affecting the sensor stripping response were characterised and optimised. These include cysteine and mercury concentrations, deposition time, deposition potential and stripping current. Surface analysis was also conducted using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in order to characterize the electrode surface during cadmium analysis. The stripping chronopotentiometric response for cadmium(II) was linear in the concentration range 0.4–800 g L^–1 when a deposition time of 2 min was used. A detection limit of 0.4 g L^–1 was obtained using 0.025 M Tris–HCl buffer containing 0.1 M KCl (pH 7.4) as the supporting electrolyte. The analytical utility of the cysteine-modified sensor was demonstrated by applying it to cadmium analysis in various wastewater and soil samples collected from a contaminated site and extracted using acetic acid. The results obtained using the developed electrodes agreed satisfactorily with the values achieved using atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using this type of sensor for cadmium analysis.     

Properties of a multiple bond conjugated with a pyridine ring

The composition of the products of the reaction of 2-vinylpyridine (I), 4-vinylpyridine (II), and 2-methyl-5-vinylpyridine (III) with piperylene and isoprene as well as the composition of catalysates obtained by dehydration of the isolated adducts were studied by means of gas-liquid chromatographic analysis. The reaction of I–III with isoprene forms only one 1,4-isomeric adduct, which gives the corresponding p-tolylpyridine on dehydrogenation. The reaction of I–III with piperylene, however, forms a mixture of 1,2- and 1,3-isomeric adducts, which give a mixture of the corresponding m-tolylpyridines on dehydrogenation; nation; in the case of I, the 1,2-isomer predominates in the mixture, while the 1,3-isomer predominates in the reaction with II and III.See [2] for Communication VIII.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 12, pp. 1659–1662, December, 1970.     

Multistep electron transfer processes on dye co-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO2 films

We report a method for achieving multilayer co-sensitization of nanocrystalline TiO2 films. The method is based upon an aluminum isopropoxide treatment of the monosensitized film prior to deposition of a second sensitizer. Appropriate selection of sensitizer dyes allows vectorial, multistep, electron transfer processes, resulting in a suppression of interfacial charge recombination and a significantly improved photovoltaic device performance relative to single-layer co-sensitization devices.     

A simple and selective kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of kanamycin using acetylacetone-formaldehyde reagent in N,N′-dimethylformamide medium

A simple, sensitive, and selective kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of kanamycin in pure form and pharmaceutical formulations is described. The method is based on the measurement of the intensity of the yellow chromogen formed by the reaction between kanamycin and acetylacetone-formaldehyde reagent in a N,N′-dimethyl formamide medium. The variable-time method was used to evaluate the rate of reaction of the colored chromogen formed at 410 nm. The reaction conditions were optimized and the calibration graph was found to be linear in the range 60–160 μg/mL. The results obtained by the developed and reference methods are in good agreement. Various statistical parameters were evaluated to establish the precision, accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility of the proposed method. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Influence of additives on the clouding behavior of amphiphilic drug solutions

The present work focuses on the clouding phenomenon in an amphiphilic drug [amitriptyline (AMT), which is a tricyclic antidepressant] solution. A 50-mM AMT solution prepared in 10 mM of sodium phosphate (SP) buffer was taken where the cloud point (CP) was found to decrease with increasing pH. The same CP decreasing trend (with pH increase) followed in the presence of a fixed concentration (50 mM) of added salts [NaBr, and tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBuAB)]. The addition of increasing amounts of quaternary bromides (tetramethylammonium bromide, tetraethylammonium bromide, tetra-n-propylammonium bromide, TBuAB, and tetra-n-pentylammonium bromide) to 50 mM of AMT solution (prepared in 10 mM of SP buffer) caused continuous increase in CP, which was found to be dependent upon the alkyl chain length of that particular salt. The similar type of CP increase was also observed in the presence of conventional (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide) and gemini surfactants [bis(hexadecyldimethylammonium)hexane, bis(hexadecyldimethylammonium)pentane, and bis(hexadecyldimethylammonium)butane]. The overall behavior was discussed in terms of electrostatic interactions, micellar growth, and mixed micelle formation.     

An unusual chlorination of 1-phenyl-4-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1,3-butadiene

The diene $\text{1a}$ reacted with CHCl₃/aq. NaOH/PTC in CH₂ Cl₂ unexpectedly to give a mixture of the chlorination products $\text{2}$ and $\text{3a}$. Usual chlorination with Cl₂ yielded similarly $\text{2}$, $\text{3a}$, and $\text{3b}$ dependent on the amount of Cl₂. The formation of $\text{2}$ as well as the reaction of $\text{7}$ to give $\text{9}$ (besides $\text{8}$) shows an unusual Cl-Cl-interaction.