Performance of hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation in protein separation

Since hollow-fiber flow field-flow fractionation (HF FIFFF) utilizes a cylindrical channel made of a hollow-fiber membrane, which is inexpensive and simple in channel assembly and thus disposable, interests are increasing as a potential separation device in cells, proteins, and macromolecules. In this study, performance of HF FIFFF of proteins is described by examining the influence of flow rate conditions and length of fiber (polyacrylonitrile or PAN in this work) on sample recovery as well as experimental plate heights. The interfiber reproducibility in terms of separation time and recovery was also studied. Experiments showed that sample recovery was consistent regardless of the length of fiber when the effective field strength (equivalent to the mean flow velocity at the fiber wall) and the channel void time were adjusted to be equivalent for channels of various fiber lengths. This supported that the majority of sample loss in HF FIFFF separation of apoferritin and their aggregates may occur before the migration process. It is finally demonstrated that HF FIFFF can be applied for characterizing the reduction in Stokes' size of low density lipoproteins from blood plasma samples obtained from patients having coronary artery disease and from healthy donors.     

Micellization and morphological characterization of Ag-micelles prepared by poly(vinyl acetate)–silver nitrate in solvent/nonsolvent system

The inducing method for preparing Ag-micelle solution with the use of mixed solvent/nonsolvent, and the morphological characterization of the generated metal–micelles were investigated and reported in this paper. In this method, an Ag containing metal chelate polymer (MCP) raw solution was preprepared by dissolving poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)–silver nitrate (AgNO₃) MCP in conc. formic acid, and a mixed solvent of HCOOH/H₂O with specific water composition was then added to induce the micellization of the MCP chain. The critical water concentration (CWC) that was needed for inducing the formation of the Ag-micelles, and the water concentration at which the flocculation of the Ag-micelles occurred in micellar solution, were studied by measuring the transmittance of the dilute MCP solution; the results showed that a long-lasting MCP solution with stable micelles might be prepared by using a H₂O/HCOOH solvent of specific weight ratio 1:1.2. The effect of the AgNO₃ concentration on the morphology of the Ag-micelles was also investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). At AgNO₃ concentration below 0.5 wt%, the Ag-micelles displayed a variety of core-shell structure; but as the AgNO₃ concentration was increased to 1.0–2.0 wt%, micelles that had Ag-solid embedded in the micellar core were observed.     

Liquid Densities and Excess Molar Volumes for Binary Systems (Ionic Liquids + Methanol or Water) at 298.15, 303.15 and 313.15 K,and at Atmospheric Pressure

Binary excess molar volumes, V _m ^E, have been evaluated from density measurements, using a vibrating tube densimeter over the entire composition range for binary liquid mixtures of ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium diethyleneglycol monomethylethersulphate [EMIM]⁺[CH₃(OCH₂CH₂)₂OSO₃]⁻ or 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium diethyleneglycol monomethylethersulphate [BMIM]⁺[CH₃(OCH₂CH₂)₂OSO₃]⁻ or 1-methyl-3-octyl-imidazolium diethyleneglycol monomethylethersulphate [MOIM]⁺[CH₃(OCH₂CH₂)₂OSO₃]⁻+methanol and [EMIM]⁺[CH₃(OCH₂CH₂)₂OSO₃]⁻+water at 298.15, 303.15 and 313.15 K. The V _m ^E values were found to be negative for all systems studied. The V _m ^E results are explained in terms of intermolecular interactions and packing effects. The experimental data were fitted by the Redlich-Kister polynomial.     

Interference of Copper(II) ions with Non-covalent Interactions in Uridine or Uridine 5′-Monophosphate Systems with Adenosine,Cytidine, Thymidine and their Monophosphates in Aqueous Solution

Coordination reactions of copper(II) ions and their effect on non-covalent interactions in uridine (Urd) or uridine 5′-monophosphate (UMP) systems with nucleosides (Ado, Cyd, Thd) and nucleotides (AMP and CMP) in aqueous solutions have been studied. At high pH the effective coordination centers are deprotonated N(3) atoms from Urd and Thd, whereas at low pH, the N(3) atoms of pyrimidine nucleosides are blocked for coordination and the metallation sites are endocyclic nitrogen atoms from Ado, Cyd, AMP and CMP. Moreover, at low pH, the main reaction center in nucleotide solutions is the phosphate group. The NMR study has proven the occurrence of non-covalent ion-dipole interactions and stacking interactions in the systems considered. Introduction of a copper ion in the majority of systems causes the disappearance of weak interactions between ligands. The structures of the complexes in solution have been inferred from the equilibrium study: an analysis of the pH range of their occurrence with respect to the pH range of deprotonation of particular groups in the compounds studied, using Vis, EPR and ¹³C as well as ³¹P NMR spectral analysis.     

Fast Marching Method for Calculating Reactive Trajectories for Chemical Reactions

We present a method for computing classical Newtonian trajectories that minimize the path length or transit time from reactant to product. Our approach is based on a generalization of the fast-marching method, which allows us to construct the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the action that optimizes the desired quantity. The resulting “reactive paths” can be interpreted as reaction coordinates but, unlike more conventional choices, they contain dynamical information about the chemical system of interest.     

Dispersion of silica nano-particles in sol-gel hybrid resins for fabrication of multi-scale hybrid nanocomposite

Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites containing both ∼15 nm silica colloids and ∼2 nm oligosiloxanes in a methacryl polymer matrix were newly designed and fabricated. Colloidal silica sols were dispersed in methacryl oligosiloxanes nano-hybrid resins synthesized by sol-gel reaction of methacryloxypropylmethoxysilane and diphenylsilanediol. On the basis of TEM and SANS analyses, it was confirmed that the silica colloids were compatibly dispersed and different sizes of colloidal silica and oligosiloxanes co-exist in the solutions. Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites fabricated by UV and thermal curing with incorporation of silica colloids in the nano-hybrid materials show enhanced mechanical and thermal characteristics.     

Catalytic combustion of chlorobenzene over V2O5/TiO2 catalysts prepared by the precipitation-deposition method

Catalytic combustion of chlorobenzene over supported vanadium oxides has been investigated. TiO₂ was prepared by the sol-gel method from titanium isopropoxide. The supported vanadium oxide catalysts have been prepared by precipitation-deposition and impregnation method and characterized by XRD, FT-Raman and TPR. In the VO_x/TiO₂catalysts prepared using the impregnation method, when vanadium loading reaches 3 wt.%, the activity shows a maximum. However, in the VO_x/TiO₂catalysts prepared by precipitation-deposition, when vanadium loading reaches 7 wt.%, the activity shows a maximum. This result suggests that the precipitation-deposition can yield a higher metal loading on the support and a high dispersion compared to the impregnation method. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes: preparation, characterization and gas separation properties

Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes with covalent bonds were prepared via sol–gel reaction. The structural informations of these hybrid membranes were obtained by using Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), ²⁹Si nuclear magnetic resonance (²⁹Si NMR), XPS and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The gas separation properties of the hybrid membranes were also investigated in terms of organosiloxane (PDMS) or silica content at various temperatures. In the hybrids, the addition of PDMS phase increased the permeabilities of gases such as He, CO₂, O₂, and N₂, indicating that the gas transport occurred mainly through rubbery organic matrix. Meanwhile, the PDMS phase contributed the decreased gas selectivities to nitrogen but the reduction in selectivities was very small in comparison with other siloxane containing polymeric membranes. This might be due to the restriction of chain mobility by the existence of inorganic component such as silica network in the hybrids. Additionally, the increase of silica content in these hybrid membranes considerably retarded the falling-off of gas selectivity at elevated temperature. The increase of silica content in hybrid membranes resulted in well-formed silica networks and hence these inorganic components restricted the plasticization of organic matrix by the thermal segmental motion of organic components, leading to preventing the large decrease of the gas selectivity.     

Ab initio and infrared spectral study of 4′-substituted phenylthiolbenzoates

The geometry of the 4′-cyano-(4′-CNPTB) and the 4′-methoxy-(4′-MePTB) phenylthiolbenzoates were obtained by ab initio calculations employing 6–31G basis set at Hartee-Fock level of theory. The results predict an extended form of the molecules and torsional angle between the phenyl rings at 90.85(6)⁰ and 90.87(3)⁰, respectively. On the basis of vibrational analysis the frequency assignment was carried out. The calculated frequencies were compared with the experimental IR spectral data in carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide solutions and in solid state.