Enzymatic surface modification of Kevlar fibers

Horseradish peroxidase catalyzed grafting of acrylamide (AM) onto Kevlar fibers has been studied. The modified fiber has been characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analysis and the grafting yield. From the SEM micrographs, the surface of the grafted Kevlar fiber is rougher than that of the untreated fiber, and the elemental analysis indicated that the nitrogen content of the treated fibers is higher than that of the untreated fiber. All the results suggested that AM must have been grafted onto the Kevlar surface through HRP-mediated radical initiated grafting reaction. The probably mechanism of HRP catalyzed grafting of AM onto Kevlar surface is proposed.     

Determination of dipole moment in the ground and excited state by experimental and theoretical methods of N-nonyl acridine orange

The absorption and fluorescence spectra of N-nonyl acridine orange are determined at room temperature (298 K) in cyclohexane, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, chlorobenzene and dichloromethane. The ground state of dipole moment was obtained by impedance measurements using Guggenheim-Debeye's method. The experimental excited state dipole moment of N-nonyl acridine orange was determined using Bakhshiev's and Kawski-Chamma-Viallet's formulae and solvent polarity parameter proposed by Reichardt. These experimental results were completed with theoretical results using quantum chemical methods. The experimental (muexp=10.76 D) and theoretical (mucal=9.9 D) dipole moments in the ground and excited state (muexp*=14.56 D) were compared.     

Electrospun cellulose acetate fibers: effect of solvent system on morphology and fiber diameter

This paper reports an investigation of the effects of solvent system, solution concentration, and applied electrostatic field strength (EFS) on the morphological appearance and/or size of as-spun cellulose acetate (CA) products. The single-solvent systems were acetone, chloroform, N,N -dimethylformamide (DMF), dichloromethane (DCM), methanol (MeOH), formic acid, and pyridine. The mixed-solvent systems were acetone–DMAc, chloroform–MeOH, and DCM–MeOH. Chloroform, DMF, DCM, MeOH, formic acid, and pyridine were able to dissolve CA, forming clear solutions (at 5% w/v), but electrospinning of these solutions produced mainly discrete beads. In contrast, electrospinning of the solution of CA in acetone produced short and beaded fibers. At the same solution concentration of 5% (w/v) electrospinning of the CA solutions was improved by addition of MeOH to either chloroform or DCM. For all the solvent systems investigated smooth fibers were obtained from 16% (w/v) CA solutions in 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 (v/v) acetone–DMAc, 14–20% (w/v) CA solutions in 2:1 (v/v) acetone–DMAc, and 8–12% (w/v) CA solutions in 4:1 (v/v) DCM–MeOH. For the as-spun fibers from CA solutions in acetone–DMAc the average diameter ranged between 0.14 and 0.37 μm whereas for the fibers from solutions in DCM–MeOH it ranged between 0.48 and 1.58 μm. After submersion in distilled water for 24 h the as-spun CA fibers swelled appreciably (i.e. from 620 to 1110%) but the physical integrity of the fibrous structure remained intact.     

Studies on metal — protein interactions: Inter-comparison among various approaches

Binding ability of mercury, thallium, lead and bismuth with Erythrina variegata seed protein have been investigated using tracer packet technique. Due to the lack of standard methods, inter-comparisons have been made among three different approaches, like trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitation, isoelectric precipitation and dialysis of protein after incubation with the metals. Good agreement was observed for all the cases except that of lead.     

Primary and secondary relaxations in bis-5-hydroxypentylphthalate revisited

The molecular structure of bis-5-hydroxypentylphthalate (BHPP) is like dihexyl phthalate but having appended to it two hydroxyl end groups, which contribute additional dipole moments and capacity for hydrogen-bond formation. In a previously published dielectric study of the primary and secondary relaxations of BHPP, it was found that all the dynamic properties are normal except for the anomalously large width of the primary relaxation loss peak. There are two secondary relaxations, the relaxation time of the slower one increases with increasing pressure, whereas that of the faster one is practically insensitive to pressure. Hence, the slower secondary relaxation is the "universal" Johari-Goldstein (JG) [J. Chem. Phys. 53, 2372 (1970); 55, 4245 (1971)] relaxation in BHPP. All is well except if the observed large width of the primary relaxation were an indication of a corresponding large coupling parameter n=0.45 in the coupling model. Then the predicted relations between the primary relaxation time tau(alpha) and the JG relaxation time tau(JG) found previously to hold in many glass formers would be violated. It was recognized that this singular behavior of BHPP is likely due to broadening of the primary loss peak by the overlapping contributions of two independent dipole moments present in BHPP, and the actual coupling parameter is smaller. However, at the time of publication of the previous work there were not enough data to support this explanation. By making broadband dielectric measurements of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) that have chemical structures closely related to BHPP but with only one dipole moment, we show that all their dynamic properties are almost the same as BHPP but the widths of their primary relaxation loss peaks are significantly narrower corresponding to a smaller coupling parameter n=0.34. The new data presented here indicate that the coupling parameter of BHPP is about the same as DBP and DOP, and the predicted relations between tau(alpha) and tau(JG) of BHPP are brought back in agreement with the experimental data.     

Aqueous Solubilities, Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficients and Octanol–Water Partition Coefficients of Tricyclic Analogs of Acyclovir

Solubilities of tricyclic analogs of acyclovir have been determined in water at 25, 35, and 45°C and in octanol, water-saturated octanol, and octanol-saturated water at 25°C. Octanol-water partition coefficients were determined at 25°C. Melting temperatures and molar enthalpies of fusion were measured. Activity coefficients in water, octanol, and in aqueous octanol solutions were determined and are discussed. The effect of hydrophilic and hydrophobic substituents in the tricyclic analogs on their thermodynamic properties are discussed. The standard Gibbs energy of transfer between the saturated phases were found to correlate with known values of the melting point of the solvents and the solubilities of the solute. For a number of the compounds examined, correlations between the minimum inhibitory concentration against the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), thymidine kinase-deficient (TK^–) strains of VZV and were established. Detailed conclusions have been derived concerning the relationships between the structure and the thermodynamic parameters of the compounds examined.     

Apparent molar volumes,heat capacities,and molecular excluded volumes of methylated,hydroxy and methoxy derivatives of 1-methylcytosine in aqueous solutions at 25°C

Densities and specific heat capacities of aqueous solutions: 1-methylcytosine; 1-methyl-N⁴-hydroxycytosine; 1,5-dimethylcytosine; I,N⁴-dimethylcytosine; 1,5-dimethyl-N⁴-hydroxycytosine; 1-methyl-N⁴-methoxycytosine; 1,N⁴,N⁴-trimethylcytosine, 1,5-dimethyl-N⁴-methoxycytosine were determined using flow calorimetry and flow densimetry at 25°C. Apparent molar volumes and heat capacities were then determined. Molecular excluded volumes were evaluated. A relationship was found between the values of the increments in partial molar values and the kind of groups substituted. Four types of contributions were distinguished: substitution of hydrogen on C, N, and O (in OH group on N4) atoms by CH₃ group and replacement of hydrogen on N4 atom by OH group. The correlation between the experimental partial molar volumes and calculated molecular excluded volumes was also elaborated.     

Shear and NMR experiments of materials with flow behaviour depending on the deformation history

Oxide ceramic masses react to simple shearing with hardening (peptisation: increase in the shear stress with the shear deformation). In the present study the correlation between the increase in the shear stress and the porosity, agglomeration processes and the type of flow are analysed. For this purpose oxide ceramic masses are tested in a shear device especially developed for pastes and analysed by rheometric experiments, NMR methods and particle size analysis. The results support the hypothesis that structural changes (hardening, increase in the mean porosity) of the material during the peptisation mainly depend on the magnitude and not on the kind of the energy input and thus of the type of flow. The fraction of bound (more generally, the immobilised) water increases with the shear displacement. Also crushing of primary particles could be observed. Both the crushing of solid particles causing an increased solid surface and the formation of a three-dimensional gel structure are microscopic effects capable of resulting in the binding or retaining water. On a macroscopic scale these phenomena cause hardening. Magnetic resonance imaging visualises flow-induced agglomerates, which form owing to the shear flow and increase the porosity averaged over the whole sample. After the shear experiment rolls of paste can be seen which indicate that the general assumption of a plane shear flow in the shear device is not warrantable. Received: 19 July 2001 Accepted: 25 October 2001     

Resolution method for overlapping peaks based on the fractional-order differential

Equations between the differential order and the maximum of the fractional-order differential for the specified peak signals are developed based on the variation of the maximum of the specified peak signals at different orders. Also, equations between the differential order and the zero-crossing of the fractional-order differential of the specified peak signals are proposed according to the variation of the zero-crossing of the specified peak signals at different orders. Characteristic paramters of the Gaus- sian peak, Lorentzian peak, and Tsallis peak can be estimated using estimator I and estimator II which are obtained by the equations above. As a result, a new method is presented to resolve the overlapped peaks signal. Firstly, a fractional-order differential of the specified peak signals is obtained with the fractional-order differentiation filter. Then, characteristic paramters of the specified peak signals can be extracted using estimator I and estimator II. Finally, the Tsallis peak is used as a model to assign the overlapping peak signals correctly. Experimental results show that the proposed method is efficient and effective for the simulated overlapping peaks and detected overlapping voltammetric peak signals.     

Growth of ramification-like ZnO rods in the presence of polyaniline

To obtain new materials with synergetic or complementary behaviors, polyaniline composite filled with ZnO rods in ramification-like structure was prepared by a hydrothermal approach. Comparative experiments of ZnO preparation in the presence of some metal ions were also carried out. The results indicated that the morphology of ZnO was strongly affected by the preparation condition. The method to grow ZnO rods in the presence of polyaniline offers a simple approach to obtain polyaniline composite filled with linear ZnO structure. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that the strong interaction between ZnO and polyaniline possibly exists to cause the charge transfer.