Applicability of polymer theories to the thermodynamics of proteins at the air/water interface: example of β-lactoglobulin

Knowledge of the equation of state of adsorbed or deposited layers of proteins at the air/water interface is of fundamental interest in the understanding of the surface activity of these molecules. Using scaling laws of current polymer theories, it has been shown that the equation of state of the interfacial layer in the semi-dilute regime should relate the surface pressure to the surface concentration through a power law. The exponent of this power law should reflect the quality of the solvent and the conformation of the adsorbed polypeptide chain. In the case of β-lactoglobulin layers, in the range of surface concentrations that should correspond to the semi-dilute regime, the relationship between surface pressure and surface concentration is expressed as a power law. The exponent of this power law is strongly influenced by the nature of the aqueous substrate and by the net charge of the protein molecule. The use of scaling laws gives a coherent view of the expansion of the polypeptide chain in the interfacial layer and of the relationship between surface concentration and surface pressure in the semi-dilute regime. This result favours a strong similarity between β-lactoglobulin and a polymer chain in the interfacial layer. It is concluded that current theories of polymer adsorption could be applied to interfacial protein layers.     

The application of the concept of reaction layer to the study of electrode processes coupled with the second-order chemical reactions at microelectrodes under steady-state conditions

Under steady-state conditions, the current equations of the second-order EC, ECE and DISPI reactions at microdisk, microspherical and microring electrodes are derived with the aid of the concept of the reaction layer. The conditions under which these equations would be valid are also discussed. Using these equations, methods to determine the kinetic parameters for the second-order EC, ECE and DISPI reactions are presented. The reduction of 2,6-diphenyl-pyrylium cation and oxidation of triphenylamine were investigated as examples of the second-order EC and ECE reactions.     

双电层相互重叠时蒙脱胶体表面阴离子的负吸附

本文用Ag-AgCl电极判断平衡,测定双电层处于不同重叠程度下肢体表面阴离子的负吸附量Γ.结果表明,胶体表面双电层相互重叠程度可由两胶体表面间的中点电位φd与外Helmhotz面处的电位φd之比表征;阴离子负吸附随双电层重叠程度和电解质浓度的增加而显著减小.     

Synthesis and characterization of sol–gel derived glass-ceramic and its corrosion protection on 316L SS

Glass-ceramic was prepared by sol–gel method using Ca(NO₃)₂·4H₂O and P₂O₅ as Ca and P precursors, respectively. In order to improve the bioactivity of the implant material, glass-ceramic (β-Ca₂P₂O₇) coating was developed on 316L SS substrate by spin coating method. Coating was annealed at different temperatures and its corrosion resistance was evaluated by electrochemical polarization and impedance analysis using Ringer’s solution as electrolyte. The results from the present study, show excellent corrosion resistance for coated 316L SS, corroborated by the high values of charge transfer resistance from impedance analysis and higher breakdown and repassivation potential with the corresponding lower current density from polarization measurements. Based on the results, the glass-ceramic coating on 316L SS can be considered as a corrosion resistant material.     

Electric conductivity in a fibrous porous medium with thin but polarized double layers

The electric conduction in the fibrous medium constructed by a homogeneous array of parallel, identical, charged, circular cylinders having an arbitrary zeta potential filled with the solution of a symmetrically charged electrolyte is analytically examined. The thickness of the electric double layers surrounding the dielectric cylinders is assumed to be small relative to the radius of each cylinder and to the gap width between two neighboring cylinders, but the polarization of the mobile ions in the diffuse layers is allowed. The effect of interactions among individual cylinders is taken into explicit account by employing a unit cell model. The appropriate equations of conservation of electrochemical potential energies of ionic species are solved for each cell, in which a cylinder is envisaged to be surrounded by a coaxial cylindrical shell of the fluid solution. Analytical expressions for the effective electric conductivity are obtained in closed forms as functions of the porosity of the fiber matrix and other characteristics of the porous system. Comparisons of the results of the cell model with different conditions at the outer boundary of the cell are made. Under an otherwise identical condition, the electric conductivity in a porous medium composed of an array of parallel cylinders in the transverse direction is smaller than that of a suspension of spheres. The effect of interactions among the cylinders or spheres on the effective conductivity can be quite significant under appropriate conditions.     

软光刻技术制备液晶显示用定向层

以偶氮聚合物光致表面起伏光栅为模板,制备聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)弹性印章,再以可溶性聚酰亚胺(PI)为“墨水”,在石英玻璃上压印出具有规则起伏结构的PI薄膜.由此制备的PI薄膜显示出很好的使液晶分子定向排列的效果.此方法成本低、效率高,是一种实用的液晶定向层薄膜制备方法.     

The electrochemical interface between copper(111) and aqueous electrolytes

The electrochemical double layer between Cu(111) electrodes and aqueous electrolytes (F⁻ and SO²⁻₄ at various pH values) was studied by means of linear scan voltammetry and ac impedance measurements. It is found that electrochemisorption of oxygen species proceeds on the Cu(111) surface in the potential regions more negative than the electrodissolution potential of copper. The adsorption-desorption kinetics are analysed; the anodic and cathodic symmetry coefficients are found to be equal (α = β = 0.3), and the standard rate constant is k° = 4 × 10⁻¹⁰cm s⁻¹.     

有机铵盐对FC-SAA表面活性及溶度的影响

测定了一系列有机铵盐与一种全氟烷磺酸盐１：１混合体系水 溶液的表面张力，由此研究有机铵盐对碳氟表面活性剂表面活性及溶度的影响，导出应用于此种混合体系的Ｇｉｂｂｓ吸附公式，并讨论了混合体系中两表面活性组分的表面分子相互作用和表面层的结构。     

Intrinsic Surface Reaction Constant in 1-pK Model of Mg-Fe Hydrotalcite-like Compounds

The relationship among intrinsic surface reaction constant (K) in 1-pK model, point of zero net charge (PZNC) and structural charge density (σst) for amphoteric solid with structural charges was established in order to investigate the effect of σst on pK. The theoretical analysis based on 1-pK model indicates that the independent PZNC of electrolyte concentration (c) exists for amphoteric solid with structural charges. A common intersection point (CIP) should appear on the acid-base titration curves at different c, and the pH at the CIP is pHPZNC. The pK can be expressed as pK=-pHPZNC log[(1 2αPZNC)/(1-2αPZNC)], where αPZNC≡σst/eNANs, in which e is the elementary charge, NA the Avogadro‘s constant and Ns the total density of surface sites. For solids without structural charges, pK=-pHPZNC. The pK values of hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlc) with general formula of [Mg1-xFex(OH)2](Cl,OH)x were evaluated. With increasing x, the pK increases, which can be explained based on the affinity of metal cations for H^- or OH^- and the electrostatic interaction between charging surface and H^- or OH^-.     

Flexible matching of test ligands to a 3D pharmacophore using a molecular superposition force field: Comparison of predicted and experimental conformations of inhibitors of three enzymes

Summary A computer procedure TFIT, which uses a molecular superposition force field to flexibly match test compounds to a 3D pharmacophore, was evaluated to find out whether it could reliably predict the bioactive conformations of flexible ligands. The program superposition force field optimizes the overlap of those atoms of the test ligand and template that are of similar chemical type, by applying an attractive force between atoms of the test ligand and template which are close together and of similar type (hydrogen bonding, charge, hydrophobicity). A procedure involving Monte Carlo torsion perturbations, followed by torsional energy minimization, is used to find conformations of the test ligand which cominimize the internal energy of the ligand and the superposition energy of ligand and template. The procedure was tested by applying it to a series of flexible ligands for which the bioactive conformation was known experimentally. The 15 molecules tested were inhibitors of thermolysin, HIV-1 protease or endothiapepsin for which X-ray structures of the bioactive conformation were available. For each enzyme, one of the molecules served as a template and the others, after being conformationally randomized, were fitted. The fitted conformation was then compared to the known binding geometry. The matching procedure was successful in predicting the bioactive conformations of many of the structures tested. Significant deviation from experimental results was found only for parts of molecules where it was readily apparent that the template did not contain sufficient information to accurately determine the bioactive conformation.