Ce(IV) ion initiated graft polymerization of glycidylmethacrylate onto a demineralized bone matrix: effect of reaction parameters

Studies on chemical modification of demineralized bone matrix (DBM) have opened new arenas in the field of clinical orthopedics owing to its potential osteoinductivity with desired chemical functionality. To widen its usage to biomolecular delivery, graft polymerization of glycidylmethacrylate onto DBM was carried out by a free-radical initiating process using ceric ammonium nitrate as an initiator. The evidence of the grafting reaction was examined by chemical analysis using Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The grafting condition was standardized by regulating the reaction parameters such as the concentrations of the backbone, the monomer and the initiator, the polymerization temperature and time. The optimum polymerization temperature and time to have the maximum grafting yield were 40 °C and 3 h, respectively. The percentage of grafting and the percentage of grafting efficiency were determined as a function of the reaction parameters, and both were found to increasing initially and thereafter decrease in most of the cases. The grafting results are discussed in a detailed fashion and a reaction mechanism is proposed.     

Sol Gel Processing of Low Permittivity,Fiber-Reinforced SiO2-Polyimide Substrates

Low permittivity ceramic substrates with a sandwich structure consisting of a porous, fiber-reinforced SiO₂ core and two thin polymer plates were fabricated by sol-gel processing, and polymer infiltration. The rheological behavior of an aqueous colloidal SiO₂ sol, containing short SiO₂ fibers was studied as a function of particle loading, fiber loading and gelation time. Short SiO₂ fibers were introduced to limit drying shrinkage and thus minimize substrate cracking during drying. After the psuedoplastic sol was tape cast and sintered at 1150°C for 2 h, a polyimide solution was infiltrated into the porous SiO₂ core. Permittivities ranging from 1.81 to 3.08 could be obtained by using 32–42% SiO₂, 5–50% polyimide and 63 to 8% porosity. The substrate strength was increased from 1.93 MPa to 3.83 MPa after polyimide infiltration.     

Determination of dopamine in synthetic cerebrospinal fluid by SWV with a graphite–polyurethane composite electrode

This work describes an electroanalytical investigation of dopamine using cyclic voltammetry (CV) and the graphite–polyurethane composite electrode (GPU). In CV studies, well-defined redox peaks characterize the oxidation process at the GPU electrode, which is indicative of electrocatalytic effects associated with active sites on the GPU electrode surface. A new analytical methodology was developed using the GPU electrode and square wave voltammetry (SWV) in BR buffer solution (0.1 mol L^–1; pH 7.4). Analytical curves were constructed under optimized conditions (f=60s^–1, E_a=50 mV, E_I=2 mV) and detection and quantification limits of 6.4×10^–8 mol L^–1 (12.1 g L^–1) and 5.2×10^–6 mol L^–1 (0.9 mg L^–1), respectively, were achieved. The precision of the method was checked by performing ten successive measurements for a 9.9×10^–6 mol L^–1 dopamine solution. For intra-assay and inter-assay precisions, the relative standard deviations were 1.9 and 2.3%, respectively. In order to evaluate the developed methodology, the determination of dopamine was performed with good sensitivity and selectivity, without the interference of ascorbic acid in synthetic cerebrospinal fluid, which indicates that the new methodology enables reliable analysis of dopamine.     

Photocatalytic activity and biodegradation of polyhydroxybutyrate films containing titanium dioxide

This study aims to evaluate the photocatalytic activity and biodegradation of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) films containing titanium dioxide (TiO₂). Nanosized TiO₂ photocatalysts were immobilized onto PHB film to overcome the difficulty of the recovery process. PHB is a suitable base material as it is naturally biodegradable and is produced from renewable resources. The photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds, photocatalytic sterilization activity and biodegradation rate in garden soil of PHB-TiO₂ composite films were investigated. After an hour under solar illumination, 96% of methylene blue solution was decolorized. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) using PHB-TiO₂ composite film exhibited enhanced photocatalytic sterilization activity over time. As for the ability to biodegrade, PHB-TiO₂ composite films placed on soil surface with no direct solar illumination showed slower degradation rate compared to those receiving direct solar illumination. Interestingly, the latter composite films showed faster degradation rates compared to pure PHB films indicating that the degradation is mainly due to photocatalytic activity. PHB-TiO₂ composite films buried in soil generally showed slower degradation rates compared to pure PHB films and were dependent on the soil microbial activity.     

On the Permanental Polynomials of Some Graphs

Let G be a simple graph with adjacency matrix A(G) and (G,x) the permanental polynomial of G. Let G × H denotes the Cartesian product of graphs G and H. Inspired by Kleins idea to compute the permanent of some matrices (Mol. Phy. 31 (3) (1976) 811–823), in this paper in terms of some orientation of graphs we study the permanental polynomial of a type of graphs. Here are some of our main results.1.If G is a bipartite graph containing no subgraph which is an even subdivision of K _2,3, then G has an orientation G ^e such that (G,x) = det (xI-A(G ^e )), where A(G ^e ) denotes the skew adjacency matrix of G ^e.2.Let G be a 2-connected outerplanar bipartite graph with n vertices. Then there exists a 2-connected outerplanar bipartite graph with 2n+2 vertices such that (G,x) is a factor of .3.Let T be an arbitrary tree with n vertices. Then , where ₁ , ₂ , ..., _n are the eigenvalues of T.     

负载型TiO2-聚酰亚胺亲水复合膜的制备与分离性能

采用溶解－流涎法，湿相转换法和干湿相转换法制轩了负载型ＴｉＯ２－聚酰亚胺亲水复合膜，采用扫描电镜，红外光谱，压汞和透气性实验等手段对该膜的孔径分布，表面结构及扩散性能进行了表征，并讨论了制备亲水对膜孔结构的影响，实验结果表明，三种膜均具有很好的亲水性能，而干湿相转换膜具有良好的孔径分布和分离性能。     

铂-金交替修饰的铂核纳米颗粒的制备与表征

通过吸附在铂纳米颗粒表面的氢交替还原氯金酸和氯铂酸,得到了复合型纳米颗粒Pt@Au/Pt,用UV-Vis光谱、TEM和XRD对其进行了表征.     

Influence of the preparation procedure on the properties of polyaniline based magnetic composites

A versatile process for the preparation of composite films consisting of magnetite (Fe₃O₄) nanoparticles embedded in a polyaniline (PANI) matrix is reported. Spectroscopic properties of polyaniline matrix (PANI-EB), polyaniline protonated with camphor sulfonic acid (PANI-CSA_0.5) PANI-ES and PANI/Fe₃O₄-CSA_0.5 composites were studied, both in the state of the solutions of m-cresol and in thin films processed from the same solvents. The results of these studies indicate that m-cresol can be used for PANI/Fe₃O₄ composite preparation. Such films show both reasonably high electrical conductivity and magnetic permeability. A controlled application of a magnetic field during the casting process resulted in the formation of the materials with an unusual combination of magnetic and transport properties. The obtained films show the behavior that can be explained by the presence of both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. The superparamagnetic contribution, if any, is very small. Application of the external magnetic field during fabrication of the composites stimulates creation of the aggregates of magnetic particles which, although keeps conductivity at a relatively high level, leads to a small decrease of the conductivity value.     

Towards advanced circuit board materials: adhesion of copper foil to ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene composite

Polyethylene based composites are attractive materials for advanced circuit board applications because of their unique combination of properties: low dielectric constant and loss factor, light weight, high flexural modulus and low thermal expansion coefficient controlled in all spatial directions. This investigation describes a process to consolidate chopped fibers of ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene concurrently with its bonding to a copper foil. Bonding is affected by a thin sheet of low‐density polyethylene, incorporating a crosslinking agent with a concentration gradient across the sheets thickness. In this single step process, the composite material is formed and bonded to the metal foil, achieving good adhesion without the use of extraneous glue. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.