One-Step Synthesis of Polyethylenimine-Coated Magnetic Nanoparticles and its Demulsification Performance in Surfactant-Stabilized Oil-in-Water Emulsion

In this study, polyethylenimine (PEI)-coated Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were successfully synthesized via a one-step, solvo-thermal method. The synthetic PEI-coated MNPs were characterized by using multiple techniques and their demulsification efficiencies were evaluated in surfactant-stabilized, oil-in-water emulsions. The results showed that the synthesized MNPs successfully adsorbed to the emulsion’s O/W interfaces and, consequently, the oil droplets could be rapidly destabilized under an applied magnetic field. It was found that the demulsification efficiency was enhanced with the increased particle dosage. The opposite effect was found with the increase in pH value and surfactant concentration. The presence of electrolytes facilitated oil removal, presumably by reduction of the electrostatic repulsion or by altering the hydrophobicity of the MNPs. Recovery experiments at various pH levels indicated that the PEI-coated MNPs could be reused for up to ten times without significant reduction in demulsification efficiency. Altogether, the results suggested that the PEI-coated MNPs could provide a simple but powerful tool to remove emulsified oil from aqueous systems.     

Core–Shell Structured Chitosan-Polyethylenimine Nanoparticles for Gene Delivery: Improved Stability,Cellular Uptake,and Transfection Efficiency

The delivery of nucleic acids relies on vectors that condense and encapsulate their cargo. Especially nonviral gene delivery systems are of increasing interest. However, low transgene expression levels and limited tolerability of these systems remain a challenge. The improvement of nucleic acid delivery using depolymerized chitosan–polyethylenimine DNA complexes (dCS-PEI/DNA) is investigated. The secore complexes are further combined with chitosan-based shells and functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cell penetrating peptides. This modular approach allows to evaluate the effect of functional shell components on physicochemical particle characteristics and biological effects. The optimized ternary complex combines a core-dCS-linear PEI/DNA complex with a shell consisting of dCS-PEG-COOH, which results in improved nucleic acid encapsulation, cellular uptake and transfection potency in human hepatoma HuH-7cells and murine primary hepatocytes. Effects on transgene expression are confirmed in wild-type mice following retrograde intrabiliary infusion. After administration of only 100 ng complexed DNA, ternary complexes induced a high reporter gene signal for three days. It is concluded that ternary coreshell structured nanoparticles comprising functionalized chitosan can be used for in vitro andin vivo gene delivery.     

PEI溶液紫外吸收光谱检测油气田硫化氢气体

建立了一种基于聚乙烯亚胺(PEI)溶液的紫外(UV)吸收光谱检测油气田硫化氢(H2S)气体浓度的方法。利用PEI结构中的氨基可与H2S气体反应的特性,测定通入H2S气体前后PEI溶液的UV吸收光谱,并分析了UV光谱吸收峰在230、365 nm附近的吸光度变化与气体浓度的关系。采用标准浓度的H2S气体样品进行浓度标定实验,建立了H2S气体浓度与吸光度之间的关系模型。实验结果表明:通入高纯度H2S气体时,PEI溶液的UV光谱在230 nm和365 nm处均出现较强吸收峰;通入较低浓度H2S气体时,UV光谱只在230 nm处出现吸收峰,该吸收峰附近的吸光度与H2S气体浓度间存在线性关系(相关系数为0.970 6),系统对H2S气体浓度的检出限可达15.39 mg/m3。基于PEI溶液的UV吸收光谱检测法可为油气田H2S气体浓度的快速、准确测定提供参考。     

Reducible polyethylenimine hydrogels with disulfide crosslinkers prepared by michael addition chemistry as drug delivery carriers: Synthesis,properties, and in vitro release

Degradable hydrogels crosslinked with disulfide bonds were prepared by Michael addition between amine groups of branched polyethylenimine and carbon–carbon double bonds of N,N′‐bis(acryloyl)cystamine. The influences of the chemical composition of the resulted hydrogels on their properties were examined in terms of morphology, surface area, swelling kinetics, and degradation. The hydrogels were uniformly crosslinked and degraded into water‐soluble polymers in the presence of the reducing agent of dithiothreitol, which improved the control over the release of encapsulated drug. The degradation of hydrogels can trigger the release of encapsulated molecules, as well as facilitate the removal of empty vehicles. Results obtained from in vitro drug release suggested that the disulfide crosslinked hydrogels exhibited an accelerated release of encapsulated drug in dithiothreitol‐containing PBS buffer solution. Moreover, the drug release rate decreased gradually with increasing crosslinking density. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 4074–4082, 2009     

溶剂对以PEIE为阴极修饰层的反型聚合物太阳能电池性能的影响

研究了乙氧基化聚乙烯亚胺(PEIE)作为反型太阳能电池阴极修饰层,其溶剂的选择对器件性能的影响.我们选择蒸馏水(DW)、异丙醇(IPA)、乙二醇甲醚(MEA)和乙氧基乙醇(EEA)作为PEIE的稀释溶剂来制备器件,并通过瞬态光电流的测量和低频电容-电压(C-V)曲线的测量分析了器件在1TO和PEIE修饰层之间的电荷积累程度和电极电荷收集效率,同时对不同溶液制成的PEIE层做了表面形貌分析.结果表明,MEA器件的光电转换效率(PCE)达到3.61％,相对于DW器件(2.66％)提高了24％,对于PEIE层选择不同的溶剂将导致表面形貌的差异,并影响器件界面的缺陷密度,进而影响器件性能.     

One-dimensional silicone nanofilaments

A decade ago one-dimensional silicone nanofilaments (1D-SNF) such as fibres and wires were described for the first time. Since then, the exploration of 1D-SNF has led to remarkable advancements with respect to material science and surface science: one-, two- and three-dimensional nanostructures of silicone were unknown before. The discovery of silicone nanostructures marks a turning point in the research on the silicone material at the nanoscale. Coatings made of 1D-SNF are among the most superhydrophobic surfaces known today. They are free of fluorine, can be applied to a large range of technologically important materials and their properties can be modified chemically. This opens the way to many interesting applications such as water harvesting, superoleophobicity, separation of oil and water, patterned wettability and storage and manipulation of data on a surface. Because of their high surface area, coatings consisting of 1D-SNF are used for protein adsorption experiments and as carrier systems for catalytically active nanoparticles.     

Crosslinked QA‐PEI nanoparticles: synthesis reproducibility,chemical modifications,and stability study

Quaternary ammonium polyethylenimine (QA‐PEI) nanoparticles were synthesized by PEI crosslinking and alkylation with octyliodide followed by quaternization by methyl iodide. The present study focuses on the reproducibility of particles formation with respect to particle size, positive charge, oxidative, thermal stability and antibacterial activity. The QA‐PEI‐based nanoparticles with particle size in the range of 160–190 nm were synthesized in high reproducibility and showed high chemical stability against environmental changes including exposure to different oxidizers and storage conditions. QA‐PEI nanoparticles incorporated in dental restorative resin composites at 2% w/w demonstrated strong antibacterial activity. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

溶剂热法制备四氧化三铁/聚乙烯亚胺修饰的多壁碳纳米管复合粒子及其吸波性能

采用溶剂热法将磁性Fe_3O_4粒子附着在聚乙烯亚胺(PEI)修饰的多壁碳纳米管(MWNTs)表面,制备了兼具介电损耗和磁损耗的复合吸波微粒Fe_3O_4/MWNTs。利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、傅里叶红外光谱仪(FTIR)、热重分析仪(TGA)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)及矢量网络分析仪等分析了Fe_3O_4/MWNTs复合粒子的结构、形貌和吸波性能。TEM结果表明,由于PEI的修饰作用,Fe_3O_4/MWNTs复合粒子具有良好的分散性。XRD结果显示,附着的Fe_3O_4粒子具有完整的晶型结构。吸波性能结果表明,PEI修饰的Fe_3O_4/MWNTs复合微粒拥有非常优异的吸波性能,随着厚度的增加,复合微粒的吸收峰向低频处移动。在厚度为3.2 mm,频率为6.16 GHz时,出现了最大反射损耗-42.9 d B,反射损耗大于-10 d B的频段为1.42 GHz(5.40~6.82 GHz)。     

Effect of surfactants on temperature-dependent self-assembling property of copolyethylenimine/cinnamic acid aqueous mixture

The transmittance of polyethylenimine (PEI)/cinnamic acid (CA) aqueous mixture was close to zero at 20–40°C, and it began to increase around 40°C due to the disassembling of the self-assembly of the PEI/CA conjugate. As the concentration of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) increased, the increasing rate of the transmittance decreased and the onset temperature increased, indicating that the self-assembly of the PEI/CA conjugate became more stable against heat with the aid of SDS. Tween 20 could also suppress the thermally induced disassembling of the self-assembly, possibly because poly(ethylene oxide) chains of the surfactant could be entangled with the PEI chains. Dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) did not have an effect on the temperature-dependent self-assembling phenomena as much as SDS and Tween 20 did. The interfacial tension of the PEI/CA/SDS aqueous mixture and that of the PEI/CA/Tween 20 aqueous mixture at 70°C were lower than the respective tensions observed at 25°C. On the contrary, the interfacial tension of the PEI/CA/DTAB aqueous mixture at 70°C was higher than that observed at 25°C, possibly because the PEI/CA conjugate could lose its surface activity at the higher temperature due to the adsorption of DTAB on CA molecules.