Acetylation and molecular mass effects on barrier and mechanical properties of shortfin squid chitosan membranes

Chitosan samples with different N-deacetylation levels were obtained from β-chitin under heterogeneous alkali conditions. Oxidative depolymerisation was performed to attain low-acetylated chitosan samples with different molecular mass. Water vapour permeability, membrane swelling and tensile mechanical properties were analysed in plasticized self-supporting chitosan membranes. The main purpose was to describe unambigously the effect of the biopolymer molecular mass and acetylation degree on these properties. Commercially available chitosan samples derived from α-chitin were also studied for comparison. The equilibrium degree of swelling in water and the water vapour permeability increase by increasing the molecular mass or the degree of acetylation. Regarding the effect on the mechanical properties, generally harder and tougher membranes were obtained for chitosans with higher molecular mass or lower acetylation degree. These observations are tentatively explained based on the different structural characteristics of the polymer and can lead to a better understanding of the tools necessary to tailor a specific type of chitosan membrane.     

Curing reaction characteristics and phase behaviors of biphenol type epoxy resins with phenol novolac resins

Diglycidyl ether of 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenol (BPDGE) is a liquid crystalline epoxy. The biphenyl epoxy (diglycidyl ether of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethyl-4,4′-biphenyl, TMBPDGE) has found great applications in plastic encapsulated semiconductor packaging. Phenol novolac (PN) was used as curing agent. The reaction kinetics of BPDGE/PN and TMBPDGE/PN systems in the presence of triphenylphosphine (TPP) were characterized by an isoconversional method under dynamic conditions using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The results showed that the curing of epoxy resins involves different reaction stages and the values of activation energy are dependent on the degree of conversion. The effects of curing temperature on their phase structure have been investigated with polarized optical microscopy and Wide-angle X-ray diffraction. With proper curing process, BPDGE showed a nematic phase when cured with PN.     

The Electrochemical Behavior of α‐Ketoglutarate at the Hanging Mercury Drop Electrode in Acidic Aqueous Solution and Its Practical Application in Environmental and Biological Samples

The voltammetric behavior of α‐ketoglutarate (α‐KG) at the hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) has been investigated in acetate buffer solution. Under the optimum experimental conditions (pH 4.5, 0.2 M NaAc‐HAc buffer solution), a sensitive reductive wave of α‐KG was obtained by linear scan voltammetry (LSV) and the peak potential was ?1.18 V (vs. SCE), which was an irreversible adsorption wave. The kinetic parameters of the electrode process were α=0.3 and k_s=0.72 1/s. There was a linear relationship between peak current i_{p, α‐KG} and α‐KG concentration in the range of 2×10^?6–8×10^?4 M α‐KG. The detection limit was 8×10^?7 M and the relative standard deviation was 2.0% (C_α‐KG=8×10^?4 M, n=10). Applications of the reductive wave of α‐KG for practical analysis were addressed as follows: (1) It can be used for the quantitative analysis of α‐KG in biological samples and the results agree well with those obtained from the established ultraviolet spectrophotometric method. (2) Utilizing the complexing effect between α‐KG and aluminum, a linear relationship holds between the decrease of peak current of α‐KG Δi_p and the added Al concentration Cequation/tex2gif-inf-5.gif in the range of 5.0×10^?6–2.5×10^?4 M. The detection limit was 2.2×10^?6 M and the relative standard deviation was 3.1% (Cequation/tex2gif-inf-6.gif=4×10^?5 M, n=10). It was successfully applied to the detection of aluminum in water and synthetic biological samples with satisfactory results, which were consistent with those of ICP‐AES. (3) It was also applied to study the effect of Al^III on the glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity in the catalytically reaction of α‐KG+NH +NADH?L ‐glutamate+NAD⁺+H₂O by differential pulse polarography (DPP) technique. By monitoring DPP reductive currents of NAD⁺ and α‐KG, an elementary important result was found that Al could greatly affect the activity of GDH. This study could be attributed to intrinsic understanding of the aluminum's toxicity in enzyme reaction processes.     

Spectroscopic studies on 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylpyrylium salts with and without silver (I)-bridged structures

Two novel phenylated pyrylium compounds, silver (I)-bridged 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylpyrylium perchlorate (P1) and its silver (I)-free pyrylium ligand (P2) were prepared from 1,2,3,4-tetraphenylcyclopentadiene to examine their spectroscopic behaviors. The UV/vis absorption and fluorescent emission spectra of P1 and P2, measured in three solvents (acetonitrile, dichloromethane and toluene), reveal that the photophysical behaviors are closely related to silver (I) fragment, and strongly dependent on solvent polarity. In polar acetonitrile, P1 displays longer absorption wavelength and much lower fluorescent emission intensity than P2, although they exhibit much similarity in shape. In contrast, in nonpolar toluene, while P2 shows an apparent absorption band at 338 nm, P1 displays a tail-like line without absorption band observed. All the spectra obtained indicate a better coplanarity and a stronger intra-molecular charge transfer in P1 due to the effect of silver (I) fragment. Additionally, the 1H NMR spectra of P1 and P2, which were recorded under the same conditions, indicate that the silver (I) fragment reinforces pyrylium ring's capacity to localize the formal positive charge within the heterocyclic ring.     

Influence of mechanical properties of pectin films on charge density and charge density distribution in pectin macromolecule

The hydration and mechanical properties of citrus pectin films were examined in conditions relevant to those in the plant cell wall. The pectins used for this study varied in the degree of esterification (DE) (high or low) and charge distribution on the backbone (random or block). The hydration of the films was controlled in an osmotic pressure experiment using polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG 20000). Hysteresis tests at constant deformation rate (stress vs deformation) were used for investigating the mechanical behaviour of films. Mechanical and hydration properties of pectin films were examined as a function of charge density, charge density distribution and counterion environment—K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺. Swelling decreased with increasing counterion concentration. The effect is stronger in the case of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ for low esterified pectins and therefore crosslinks from divalent ions could be assumed. The crosslink effect is confirmed in mechanical experiments where an increase in the film tensile modulus is observed with increasing counterion concentration. It is shown for the first time that in case of highly concentrated pectin solutions Mg²⁺ cations also act as a crosslinker for pectin macromolecules.     

智能性水凝胶

“智能”材料具有传感、处理和执行功能，水凝胶作为智能材料其应用前景良好。本文综述了智能水凝胶的近期研究发展，以Ｆｌｏｒｙ的溶胀理论着重探讨了刺激响应性，并介绍了化学机械现象及凝胶相转变。     

Synthesis and Evaluation of Biocompatible pH‐Sensitive Hydrogels as Colon‐Specific Drug Delivery Systems

Because of the growing importance of pH‐sensitive hydrogels as drug delivery systems, biocompatible copolymeric hydrogels based N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NVP) and methacrylic acid (MAA) were designed and synthesized. These hydrogels were investigated for oral drug delivery. Radical copolymerizations of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone (NVP) and methacrylic acid (MAA) with the various ratios of cross‐linking agent were carried out at 70 °C. Azabisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was the free‐radical initiator employed and Cubane‐1,4‐dicarboxylic acid (CDA) linked to two 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) group was the crosslinking agent (CA) used for hydrogel preparations. The hydrogels were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and FT‐IR. Equilibrium swelling studies were carried out in enzyme‐free simulated gastric and intestinal fluids (SGF and SIF, respectively). A model drug, olsalazine [3,3′‐azobis (6‐hydroxy benzoic acid)] (OSZ) as an azo derivative of 5‐aminosalicylic acid (5‐ASA), was entrapped in these gels and the in‐vitro release profiles were established separately in both enzyme‐free SGF and SIF. The drug‐release profiles indicated that the amount of drug released depended on the degree of swelling. The swelling was modulated by the amount of crosslinking of the polymer bonded drug (PBDs) prepared. Based on the great difference in hydrolysis rates at pH 1 and 7.4, these pH‐sensitive hydrogels appear to be good candidates for colon‐specific drug delivery.     

Phase equilibria in polymer/solvent systems. Part V: Thermodynamic theory of the swelling pressure equilibrium of a crosslinked substance with a solvent in various phases

A thermodynamic theory has been developed to define the swelling pressure equilibrium between a homogeneous gel and a pure solvent, where phase transitions of the solvent, such as evaporation and crystallization can occur. It is shown that the equilibrium curve, which describes the temperature dependence of the composition in the gel phase under the condition of a constant swelling pressure, has distinct bends at the transition temperatures. These bends are related to the enthalpies of transition of the pure solvent at the transition temperatures. As a consequence of the phase transition of the solvent the swelling pressure-temperature curve at constant composition of the gel shows a discontinuous behavior at the transition point. Numerical calculations with a modified Flory-Huggins expression, based on results of swelling and deswelling measurements of the system crosslinked PEG/water, are presented.The discussion includes natural systems, which are in the gel state, where water may crystallize in the extracellular space.     

The effect of solvent composition on swelling and shrinking properties of poly(acrylamide-co-itaconic acid) hydrogels

The peculiarities of the equilibrium swelling ratio and swelling-shrinking kinetics of polyelectrolyte copolymeric hydrogels consisting of acrylamide and itaconic acid (AAm/IA) have been studied in water/nonsolvent (acetone, methanol, ethanol and 1-butanol) mixtures as a function of solvent composition and IA content in the hydrogel. The phase transition of these hydrogels was generated by changing the solvent composition by progressive substitution of water by the nonsolvent. For all P(AAm/IA) hydrogels, the form of the shrinking curves was determined to be strongly dependent on the type of the nonsolvent used. The rate of shrinking of these hydrogels increased in the order 1-butanol < ethanol < methanol < acetone.     

Swelling behavior of ionically cross-linked polyampholytic hydrogels in varied salt solutions

Ionically cross-linked polyampholytic hydrogels were synthesized by redox copolymerization of acrylamide and an ionic complex of (N,N-diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate and acrylic acid (designated as PADA hydrogel). The swelling behavior of the hydrogels in water indicated that a minimal equilibrium swelling ratio is found when the molar ratio of anionic/cationic monomers was 1.55. In NaCl solution, the hydrogels exhibited the typical swelling behavior of conventional polyampholytic gels. Their equilibrium swelling ratios increased with an increase in the NaCl concentration. In solutions of multivalent ions (CaCl₂ and trisodium citrate solutions), the equilibrium swelling ratios of the hydrogels increased first and were then followed by a decrease with an increase in salt concentration. Interestingly, an unexpected abrupt swelling phenomenon was observed when the fully swollen hydrogels in salt solution were transmitted to pure water. The unique swelling behavior of PADA hydrogels depends not only on the molar ratio of the anionic/cationic monomers but also on the valency of the ions.