Carbon fiber microelectrodes electrocoated with polycarbazole and poly(carbazole-co-p-tolylsulfonyl pyrrole) films for the detection of dopamine in presence of ascorbic acid

Polycarbazole (PCz) and poly(carbazole-co-p-tolylsulfonyl pyrrole) (PCz-co-p-Tsp) films were electrochemically deposited on single carbon fiber microelectrodes using LiClO₄ as electrolyte and acetonitrile as a solvent. The response of the sensors was tested towards different dopamine concentrations. The effect of ascorbic acid on the dopamine signal was analyzed by differential pulse voltammetry. Sensors displaying amperometric response to dopamine concentrations with a detection limit of 0.27 μM dopamine (3S/N) for the PCz modified CFE and 0.5 μM dopamine (3S/N) for the PCz-co-p-Tsp modified CFE; and an efficient protection against ascorbic acid interference at physiology concentration values (500 μM) were obtained. Correspondence: Wolfgang Schuhmann, Analytische Chemie, Elektroanalytik & Sensorik, Ruhr-Universit?t Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany     

Inclusion complexation of warfarin withβ-cyclodextrins and its influence on absorption kinetics of warfarin in rat

The inclusion complexes of warfarin withβ-cyclodextrin, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-CD and methyl-β-CD have been investigated in aqueous solution. The apparent binding constants of warfarin are found to be 542±19, 442±18 and 112±6M^?1 respectively, calculated from the increments in fluorescence emission of the drug. The influence of theβ-CDs on the absorption rate of the drug is investigated within situ experiments in a chronically isolated internal loop, in the small intestine of the rat. The first-order disappearance (absorption) rate constant decreases to 3.6×10^?4 min^?1 inβ-CD, to 5.0×10^?4 min^?1 in 2-hydroxypropyl-β-CD and to 1.4×10^?3 min^?1 in methyl-β-CD compared to 3.2×10^?3 min^?1 in isotonic phosphate buffer (pH=7.4) solution, all of them showing a good agreement with the percentage of free warfarin in their complexed solutions: 16%, 18% and 47% calculated, respectively.     

Photochemically prepared polysulfone/poly(ethylene glycol) amphiphilic networks and their biomolecule adsorption properties

Polysulfone/poly(ethylene glycol) amphiphilic networks were prepared via in situ photo-induced free radical crosslinking polymerization. First, the hydrophobic polysulfone diacrylate (PSU-DA) oligomer was synthesized by condensation polymerization and subsequent esterification processes. Then, the obtained oligomer was co-crosslinked with the hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA) or poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate (PEG-MA) at different feed ratios. In the case of PEG-MA, the resulting network possessed dangling pendant hydrophilic chains on the crosslinked surface. The structure and the morphology of the membranes were characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The enhancement of surface hydrophilicity was investigated by water contact angle measurements. The biomolecule adsorption properties of these networks were also studied. The biomolecules easily adsorbed on the surface of the hydrophobic polysulfone networks whereas dangling hydrophilic chains on the surface prevented the adsorption of the biomolecules.     

Photon statistics of semiconductor microcavity lasers

We present measurements of first- and second-order coherence of quantum-dot micropillar lasers together with a semiconductor laser theory. Our results show a broad threshold region for the observed high-beta microcavities. The intensity jump is accompanied by both pronounced photon intensity fluctuations and strong coherence length changes. The investigations clearly visualize a smooth transition from spontaneous to predominantly stimulated emission which becomes harder to determine for high beta. In our theory, a microscopic approach is used to incorporate the semiconductor nature of quantum dots. The results are in agreement with the experimental intensity traces and the photon statistics measurements.     

Seismic behaviour of isolated multi-span continuous bridge to nonstationary random seismic excitation

This paper concentrates on the results of responses of a multi-span continuous bridge isolated with double concave friction pendulum bearings subjected to non-stationary random seismic excitation characterized by the incoherence, the wave-passage, and the site-response effects. The earthquake excitation is modelled as a non-stationary random process as uniformly modulated broad-band excitation. To perform the seismic isolation procedure, the double concave friction pendulum bearings which are sliding devices that utilize two spherical concave surfaces are placed at each of the six support points of the deck. The non-stationary response of the isolated bridge is compared with the corresponding stationary response in order to study the effects of non-stationary characteristics of the earthquake input motion. Solutions obtained from the stationary and non-stationary stochastic analyses for the isolated bridge to spatially varying earthquake ground motions are compared for the special cases of the earthquake ground motion model. The spatially varying earthquake ground motions are described stochastically based on an empirical coherency loss function and a filtered power spectral density function. The site effect is considered by a transfer function derived from one dimensional wave propagation theory. It is observed that the stationary assumption is reasonable for the considered ground motion duration.     

Thermoresponsive oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate colloids with antifouling surface properties

Thermoresponsive polymeric colloids attract great attention in several biotechnological applications owing to their ability to manipulate drug release characteristics in a controlled manner. Majority of these applications utilized N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM)‐based particles for controlled drug release. Despite its advantages, such as easy chemical modification and well‐documented literature, a potentially important bottleneck for NIPAM in biological applications is its tendency for nonspecific protein adsorption. Herein, we report a simple way to prepare novel thermoresponsive colloids composed of oligo(ethylene glycol) side chains via precipitation polymerization technique. In addition to displaying highly reversible thermal response, these particles also have considerably low nonspecific protein adsorption when compared with NIPAM counterparts. These crosslinked poly(ethylene glycol) ethyl ether methacrylate particles were characterized using dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. The effects of co‐monomer, crosslinker and initiator on particle characteristics were investigated. Finally, particle toxicity studies were carried out using 3T3 fibroblast cell lines in MTT cytotoxicity assay. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Carbazole derivative synthesis and their electropolymerization

This review article investigates the hot topics by presenting the latest advances in carbazole and its derivative synthesis and their electropolymerization processes. The carbazole-based compounds are particularly attractive due to their important photochemical and thermal stability and good hole-transport ability. Conjugated monomers of carbazole derivatives and their polymers attract interest due to their suitability in a broad range of applications, such as biosensors, corrosion inhibition, photovoltaics, electroluminescent devices, field-effect transistors and supercapacitors, etc. This review article divides two main parts. One of them includes effects of electropolymerization parameters of carbazole and chemical polymerization of carbazole derivatives. In addition, copolymers and composites of carbazole derivatives were presented in the first part. In the second part, the application of polycarbazole and its derivatives was examined as biosensors, corrosion inhibition, supercapacitor, battery, fuel cell, solar cell, electropolymerization, light emitting diodes, and OLEDs.     

Synthesis of ternary polypyrrole/Ag nanoparticle/graphene nanocomposites for symmetric supercapacitor devices

In this study, novel ternary synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets via intercalation of Ag nanoparticles (Ag) and polypyrrole (PPy) was obtained for supercapacitor evaluations. The synthesis procedure of nanocomposite is simple, cheap, and ecologically friendly. The nanocomposites were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared-attenuated transmission reflectance (FTIR-ATR) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersion X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX). In addition, electrochemical performances of electrode active materials (rGO/Ag/PPy) of the samples were tested by means of galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The highest specific capacitance and energy density of rGO/Ag/PPy nanocomposite were obtained as C_sp = 1085.22 F/g and E = 36.92 Wh/kg for [rGO]_o/[Py]_o = 1/5 at 4 mV/s in 1 M H₂SO₄ solution. Under the optimized preparation conditions in different initial feed ratios ([rGO]_o/[Py]_o = 1/1, ½, 1/5, and 1/10) of rGO/Ag/PPy, nanocomposites acquired a high Coulombic efficiency, and a retention of 66% of its initial capacitance for [rGO]_o/[Py]_o = 1/10 after 1000 cycles. GCD and EIS measurements of rGO/Ag/PPy nanocomposite electrode active material allowed for supercapacitor applications.     

Determination of glutathione disulfide levels in biological samples using thiol-disulfide exchanging agent, dithiothreitol

A reverse-phase HPLC method incorporating dithiothreitol (DTT) reduction for quantitative determination of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in biological samples is described here. This method is based on our previous enzymatic reduction technique that uses N-1-(pyrenyl) maleimide (NPM) as a derivatizing agent. In our earlier method, glutathione disulfide (GSSG) was measured by first reducing it to GSH with glutathione reductase (GR) in the presence of NADPH. However, this is a very costly and time-consuming technique. The method described here employs a common and inexpensive thiol-disulfide exchanging agent, DTT, for reduction of GSSG to GSH, followed by derivatization with NPM. The calibration curves are linear over a concentration range of 25-1250 nm (r(2) > 0.995). The coefficients of variations for intra-run precision and inter-run precision range from 0.49 to 5.10% with an accuracy range of 1.78-6.15%. The percentage of relative recovery ranges from 97.3 to 103.2%. This new method provides a simple, efficient, and cost-effective way of determining glutathione disulfide levels with a 2.5 nm limit of detection per 5 microL injection volume.