Synthesis and characterisation of novel functional polyolefin containing sulfonic acid groups

The strong polar group, sulfonic acid, has successfully been introduced into ethylene/allylbenzene copolymers without degradation or crosslinking via chlorosulfonation reaction with chlorosulfonic acid as a chlorosulfonating agent in 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane followed by hydrolysis. The degree of sulfonation (DS) can be easily controlled by changing the ratio of chlorosulfonic acid to the pendant phenyls of the copolymer. The microstructure of sulfonated copolymers were unambiguously revealed by ¹H NMR and ¹H-¹H COSY spectral analyses, which indicates that all the sulfonation reactions exclusively took place at the para-position of the aromatic rings. The thermal behaviors were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). DSC data exhibit a systematic trend of melting temperature increasing with DS. TGA data of sulfonated copolymers show an increase in degradation temperature from 444 to 460 °C compared to the received copolymer. Sulfonated copolymers also show an additional minor loss of mass at approximately 261 °C, which is not observed in the received copolymer. The wetting properties of the sulfonated copolymers were also evaluated by contact angle measurement, and a notable increase in surface hydrophilicity was identified.     

具有结构诱导的亲水性和导电性的α-MnO2纳米线网络用于电催化

具有各向异性特征的低维纳米线已被应用于各类科学技术领域.纳米线也被广泛用于制备高维超级结构(纳米线阵列和纳米线网络等),以克服低维纳米线自由堆积导致化学反应过程中内部空间不足等缺点.但是,构造这些超级结构的典型策略仅限于复杂和苛刻的组装合成手段,因此,在温和条件下使用简单的方法直接合成基于纳米线的新型3D超结构仍然是重要且具有挑战性的工作.本文在没有使用任何表面活性剂的条件下通过简单水热法制备了一种独特α-MnO2纳米线网络,同时这一新颖的结构使制备的材料具有优异的结构诱导的亲水性和导电性.在此超级结构中,纳米线通过节点从各个方向互相连接形成网络,网络结构由节点之间的逐节点连接形成.与离散的α-MnO2纳米线和3Dα-MnO2微米球相比,α-MnO2网络超级结构的电催化水氧化活性显著增强.物质扩散和电荷转移能力是电催化剂性能的两大重要影响因素,因此,本文对比研究了这三种材料的亲水性和导电性对电催化水氧化的影响程度.在α-MnO2网络超级结构中,丰富开放空间有利于物质扩散.在水溶液的非均相催化中,水的扩散和与催化位点的结合很重要.水滴静态接触角测量结果表明,α-MnO2网络超级结构具有较高的亲水性.通常,长纳米线的暴露晶面较稳定,它们与溶剂分子间的相互作用较弱.然而,由于大量的空隙结构导致的虹吸效应,本文α-MnO2纳米线网络结构表现出高亲水性.同时,本文采用四点探针法测试了三种催化剂的薄层电阻,与离散的α-MnO2纳米线中线与线之间的物理接触不同,网络结构中线与线是通过化学方式连接的.因此,网络结构内的电荷转移比随机堆积的纳米线和微米球要快得多.本文还通过电化学方法进一步证明了α-MnO2网络超级结构中高效的物质扩散和电荷转移.网络结构中,基于活化电流和静态电流的Tafel值相近,该结果表明即使在没有消除传质限制情况下,这种独特纳米网络的丰富内部空间使得传质阻力几乎可以忽略,具有高传质效率.根据Laviron方程计算出的电子转移速率常数表明,网络结构的电子转移速率比其他两个对比催化剂快得多,说明α-MnO2纳米线网络超级结构同时具有高效的物质扩散和电荷转移能力.综上,本文不仅为构筑高级网络结构提供了一条新的合成途径,而且为设计具有高效物质扩散和电荷转移的电化学材料提供了新思路.     

A study on the antimicrobial efficacy of RF oxygen plasma and neem extract treated cotton fabrics

The paper deals with a thorough investigation on the antimicrobial activity of RF oxygen plasma and Azadirachtin (neem extract) treated cotton fabric. The hydrophilicity of cotton fabric was found to improve when treated with RF oxygen plasma. The process parameters such as electrode gap, time of exposure and oxygen pressure have been varied to study their effect on improving the hydrophilicity of the cotton fabric. The static immersion test has been carried out to assess the hydrophilicity of the oxygen plasma treated samples and the process parameters were optimized based on these test results. The formation of carbonyl group during surface modification in the plasma treated sample was analysed using FTIR studies. The surface morphology has been studied using SEM micrographs.The antimicrobial activity was imparted to the RF oxygen plasma treated samples using methanolic extract of neem leaves containing Azadirachtin. The antimicrobial activity of these samples has been analysed and compared with the activity of the cotton fabric treated with neem extract alone. The investigation reveals that the surface modification due to RF oxygen plasma was found to increase the hydrophilicity and hence the antimicrobial activity of the cotton fabric when treated with Azadirachtin.     

Fabrication and characterization of a novel TiO2 nanoparticle self-assembly membrane with improved fouling resistance

A novel TiO₂ nanoparticle self-assembly membrane was prepared based on ultrahigh molecular weight poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (SMA/PVDF) blend membrane. TiO₂ nanoparticle solution was beforehand prepared via the controlled hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide. The diameter (10 nm or less) and anatase crystal structure were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The SMA/PVDF blend membranes prepared by the phase inversion method were immersed into the TiO₂ nanoparticle solution for a week to produce TiO₂ self-assembly membranes. The chemical compositions in membrane surface were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The membrane morphologies were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Finally, the membrane hydrophilicity, protein anti-fouling property and the molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) were characterized by water contact angle measurement, static protein absorption and filtration experiments, respectively. It is demonstrated that, in comparison to PVDF/SMA blend membrane, the permeability and anti-fouling ability of TiO₂ self-assembly membranes were significantly improved.     

Self‐Assembled Regenerated Cellulose Spacer Film in Thin Film and Generator‐Collector Electrodes

Reconstituted cellulose spontaneously self‐assembles at surfaces from an alkaline cellulose solution (ca. 1 wt%, pH 14, prepared with an enzymatic method from wood pulp) into porous films with approximately 300 nm thickness per layer, for example onto immersed tin‐doped indium oxide (ITO) electrodes. Sequential multi‐layer deposition allows control over the thickness of the assembled films. The hydrophilic properties of the cellulose film electrodes are utilised here (i) as dip‐probe with capillary force picking up sample solution and (ii) as flow‐through generator‐collector probe, for example for future application in in situ chromatographic separation in end‐column detection with nano‐molar sensitivity.     

Hydrophilic anchors for transmembrane anion–π slides

The concept of hydrophilic anchoring is introduced to activate rigid oligonaphthalenediimide (O-NDI) rods as anion–π slides for multi-ion hopping across lipid bilayers. We report that short peptide solubilizers suffice to reach the rare combination of high activity and high selectivity that is needed for anion pumping in vesicles.     

Investigation into the effects of deposition parameters on TiO2 photocatalyst thin films by rf magnetron sputtering

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalyst thin films were deposited on non-alkali glass substrates by radio frequency (rf) magnetron sputtering. The Taguchi method with orthogonal array, signal-to-noise ratio and analysis of variance were employed to study the performance characteristics. The experimental studies were conducted under different rf powers, sputtering pressures, O₂/(Ar+O₂) flow-rate ratios, and substrate temperatures. The deposited TiO₂ films were of the anatase phase with a (101) preferred orientation. We performed both photoinduced decomposition of methylene blue (MB) and photoinduced hydrophilicity under UV light illumination. With the optimized TiO₂ photocatalyst thin film deposition conditions, the water contact angle after 9 min UV illumination was approximately 5, the absorbance of MB was reduced to 0.2 for 240 min UV irradiation, and the deposition rate was 34.18 Å/min.     

Plasma surface modification of nanofiltration (NF) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes to improve anti organic fouling

Commercial nanofiltration (NF) thin-film composite (TFC) membranes were treated by low-pressure NH₃ plasma, and the effects of the plasma treatment were investigated in terms of the membrane hydrophilicity, pure water flux, salt rejection, protein adsorption, and humic acid fouling. Experimental results indicated that the membrane surface hydrophilicity was increased by the plasma treatment, and changes in the hydrophilicity as well as membrane performance including permeate flux and fouling varied with the original membrane characteristics (e.g., roughness and hydrophilicity). Water flux of plasma treated membranes was the highest with 10 min and 90 W of plasma treatment, and salt rejection was mainly affected by the intensity of the plasma power. Results of bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption demonstrated that the protein adsorption decreased with increasing plasma treatment time. The plasma treatment that resulted in more negatively charged surfaces could also better prevent Aldrich humic acid (AHA) attachment on the membrane surface.     

Ga掺杂纳米TiO2薄膜的制备及其光电特性

利用射频磁控溅射法在玻璃衬底上制备了Ga掺杂的TiO₂薄膜,并在真空中于550 ℃下进行了2 h的退火处理。采用XRD、SEM、UV-Vis和PL光谱对薄膜进行了表征。XRD结果提示,在溅射功率为200 W,室温下制备的TiO₂薄膜具有混晶结构,且退火后的晶粒有长大的趋势。SEM分析表明,掺Ga薄膜的颗粒分布得较为均匀并存在尺寸变小的趋势,且出现有利于提高光催化性能的岛状结构,其平均颗粒尺寸为50 nm。UV-Vis透过谱指出,掺Ga后的TiO₂薄膜吸收边发生了明显红移,且退火后进一步红移了10~50 nm。通过接触角的测量与计算可知,550 ℃退火2 h后的薄膜具有良好的亲水性。光催化降解结果表明：样品具有较强的光催化能力。当用低功率(15 W)紫外灯照射8 h后,Ga掺杂的纳米TiO₂薄膜样品对亚甲基蓝溶液的降解率最高可达到71.8%。     

聚丙烯微孔膜表面的空气等离子体处理

采用空气等离子体对聚丙烯微孔膜进行了处理，膜表面带有了氧元素，表面亲水性增强。微孔膜外表面改性程度较高，而孔内愈往深处改性程度愈弱。空气等离子体处理过的微孔膜力学性能下降。