A comparative study of jet formation and nanofiber alignment in electrospinning and electrocentrifugal spinning systems

Electrocentrifugal spinning is a recently developed spinning system whose performance is still under investigation by researchers. In this study the process of jet formation in electrocentrifugal spinning is explored and compared to the same process in electrospinning and centrifuge spinning. The results show that the incorporation of the electrical and the centrifugal forces in the electrocentrifugal spinning system leads to the formation of a more stable jet at lower viscosities. It is also shown that the electrocentrifugal spinning method is an efficient technique for the production of aligned nanofiber bundles with enhancement in the mechanical properties.     

Electrical field influence on molecular mass and electrical conductivity of polyaniline

We have described the primary studies on the conductivity and molecular weight of polyaniline in an electric field as it is used in a field effect experimental configuration. We report further studies on doped in-situ deposited polyaniline. First we have chemically synthesized polyaniline by ammonium peroxodisulfate in an acidic solution, with aqueous, organic and emulsion conditions at different times. Next, we measured mass and conductivity and obtained the best time of polymerizations. Then, we repeated these reactions under different electrical fields in constant time and measured mass and conductivity. The polyaniline is characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), UV-visible spectroscopy and electrical conductivity. Polyanilines with high molecular weight are synthesized under electric field M _w = (5.2–6.8) × 10⁵, with M _w/M _n = 2.0–2.5. The UV-visible spectra of polyanilines oxidized by ammonium peroxodisulfate and protonated with dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (PANi-DBSA), in N-methylpyrolidone (NMP) show a smeared polaron peak shifted into the visible. Electrical conductivity of polyaniline has been studied by four-probe method. The conductivity of the films of emeraldine protonated by DBSA cast from NMP is higher than 500 S/cm under (10 kV/cm² of potential) electric field and shows an enhanced resistance to ageing. Next, we carried chemical polymerization at the best electric field at different times. Finally, the best time and amount of electric field were determined. Polymers synthesized under an electric field probably have better physical properties regarding the existence of less branching and high electric conductivity.     

Poly(basic ionic liquid) coated magnetic nanoparticles: High-loaded supported basic ionic liquid catalyst

A novel poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) coated magnetic nanoparticle was synthesized by distillation-precipitation-polymerization of 1-vinyl-3- ethyl imidazolium in the presence of surface modified magnetic nanoparticles. The resulting catalyst was used as magnetic heterogeneous base catalyst for the synthesis of 4H-benzo[b]pyrans in water. The separation of the catalyst from the reaction mixture was readily achieved by simple magnetic decantation and the catalyst could be easily recycled without appreciable loss of catalytic activity. Because of polymer layers coated the surface of the magnetic nanoparticles, the catalyst has a high loading level of ionic liquid.     

Studies on the thermal behavior and decomposition kinetic of drugs cetirizine and simvastatin

Understanding the response of drugs and their formulations to thermal stresses is an integral part of the development of stable medicinal products. In the present study, the thermal degradation of two drug samples (cetirizine and simvastatin) was determined by differential scanning calorimetery (DSC) and simultaneous thermogravimetery/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) techniques. The results of TG analysis revealed that the main thermal degradation for the cetirizine occurs during two temperature ranges of 165–227 and 247–402 °C. The TG/DTA analysis of simvastatin indicates that this drug melts (at about 143 °C) before it decomposes. The main thermal degradation for the simvastatin occurs during two endothermic behaviors in the temperature ranges of 238–308 and 308–414 °C. The influence of the heating rate (5, 10, 15, and 20 °C min^?1) on the DSC behavior of both the drug samples was verified. The results showed that as the heating rate was increased, decomposition temperatures of the compounds were increased. Also, the kinetic parameters such as activation energy and frequency factor for the compounds were obtained from the DSC data by non-isothermal methods proposed by ASTM E696 and Ozawa. Based on the values of activation energy obtained by ASTM E696 method, the values of activation energy for cetirizine and simvastatin were 120.8 and 170.9 kJ mol^?1, respectively. Finally, the values of ΔS ^#, ΔH ^#, and ΔG ^# of their decomposition reaction were calculated.     

Comparative evaluation of amphotericin B binding to the native and modified forms of rice lipid-transfer protein: a possible perspective on improving the drug-binding affinity and specificity

Plant non-specific lipid-transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are small basic proteins which transport phospholipids between different cell membranes. They are classified, based on their molecular weight, into two subfamilies: nsLTP1 (9 kDa) and nsLTP2 (7 kDa). These proteins have received an increasing research interest as efficient drug carriers in drug delivery systems. However, there have been few studies conducted on their drug-binding characteristics. The present study aims to comparatively evaluate binding of amphotericin B (AmB, an antifungal drug) to the native and modified forms of rice nsLTP1 and to assess possible applications in drug delivery methods. The LTP1 was purified and then interaction of AmB with the native and modified forms of protein was investigated with various spectroscopic methods. The results showed that the AmB–LTP binding is associated with quenching of the protein intrinsic fluorescence. Furthermore, as temperature of the medium increased, the stability of the AmB–native LTP complex decreased, whereas the stability of the AmB–modified LTP increased. Analysis of the thermodynamic parameters of the AmB–protein complexes and extrinsic fluorescence data indicated that the lysine modification caused a change in the intermolecular interactions between the protein and AmB as well as in the protein surface hydrophobicity (PSH). Furthermore, Dixon plot showed that AmB inhibits ANS binding especially in the AmB–modified RLTP binding. Findings of the current study highlighted the drug-binding characteristics of the modified form of LTP necessitating further studies to profoundly evaluate the characteristics of its mutant forms.     

Bimetallic nanoparticles as a novel chemiresistor coating

Here, we describe the chemiresistive sensing of some volatile organic compounds with a novel film of chemically synthesized Au–Pt bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid. The chemiresistive sensing properties were measured over a concentration range of 1.4–250 mg L^?1 for methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate and acetone vapours and the responses were compared with Au and Pt monometallic nanoparticles. It is observed that the sensitivity of bimetallic nanoparticles is increased about 60 % in exposure to methanol and ethanol vapours, but there are no changes in the sensitivity to the other tested vapours. In addition, the detection limit is improved about 80–100 % for all tested vapours in bimetallic nanoparticles compared to AuNPs and 20–30 % compared to PtNPs.     

Monophosphoramide derivatives: synthesis and crystal structure,theoretical and experimental studies of their biological effects

Molecular Diversity - Synthesizing new chemical compounds and studying their biological applications have been important issues in scientific research. In this investigation, we synthesized and...     

Spectroscopic and Molecular Modeling Based Approaches to Study on the Binding Behavior of DNA with a Copper (II) Complex

Blocking the division of tumor cells by small-molecules is currently of great interest for the design of new antitumor drugs. The interaction of a new metal complex with DNA was investigated through several techniques. Absorption spectroscopy and gel electrophoresis studies on the interaction of the Cu-complex of (2a-4mpyH)₂ [Cu(pyzdc)₂ (H₂O)₂].6 H₂O with DNA have shown that this complex can bind to CT-DNA with binding constant 3.99?×?10⁵ M^?1. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) responses of the metal complex in the presence of CT-DNA have shown that the metal complex can bind to CT-DNA through partial intercalation mode and this is consistent with molecular docking analysis, quenching process and thermal denaturation experiments. The cytotoxicity of this complex has been evaluated by MTT assay. The results of cell viability assay on DU145 cell line revealed that the metal complex had cytotoxic effects.     

Determination of Silver in Human Hair by Ionic Liquid‐based Cold‐induced Aggregation Microextraction as a Solvent Extraction Method

We report on the determination of silver ion in human hair sample using ionic liquid cold‐induced aggregation combined with spectrophotometric detection. Parameters governing the extraction efficiency (such as concentration of ligand, volume of ionic liquid, pH, temperature, extraction time) were optimized and resulted in enrichment factor of 44.4 for silver ion. The calibration curve was linear with correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.999, in the concentration range from 1.0 to 20 ng mL^?1. The relative standard deviation is 2.3% (for n = 10), the limit of detection is 0.262 ng mL^?1, and relative recoveries in real samples were more than 93%.     

Development of chemoselective photoreduction of nitro compounds under solar light and blue LED irradiation

Solar light and blue light irradiation of the commercially available heterogeneous nano photocatalyst TiO₂–P25 leads to reduction of nitro compounds to give the corresponding amines. The methodology provides a green and mild approach to this useful class of organic compounds. Aromatic nitro compounds containing a wide range of functional groups tolerated the conditions to give, chemoselectively the corresponding amines in excellent yields.