Improvement in enzyme activity and stability by addition of low molecular weight polyethylene glycol to sodium bis(2-ethyl-L-hexyl)sulfosuccinate/isooctane reverse micellar system

The activity and stability of Chromobacterium viscosum lipase (glycerolester hydrolase, EC 3.1.1.3)-catalyzed olive oil hydrolysis in sodium bis (2-ethyl-1-hexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT)/isooctane reverse micelles is increased appreciably when low molecular weight polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) is added to the reverse micelles. To understand the effect of PEG 400 on the phase behavior of the reverse micellar system, the phase diagram of AOT/PEG 400/water/isooctane system was studied. The influences of relevant parameters on the catalytic activity in AOT/PEG 400 reverse micelles were investigated and compared with the results in the simple AOT reverse micelles. In the presence of PEG 400, the linear decreasing trend of the lipase activity with AOT concentration, which is observed in the simple AOT reverse micelles, disappeared. Enzyme entrapped in AOT/PEG reverse micelles was very stable, retaining>75% of its initial activity after 60 d, whereas the half-life in simple AOT reverse micelles was 38 d. The kinetics parameter maximum velocity (V _max)exhibiting the temperature dependence and the activation energy obtained by Arrhenius plot was suppressed significantly by the addition of PEG 400.     

Tuning the Photocatalytic Activity of CdS Nanocrystals through Intermolecular Interactions in Ionic‐Liquid Solvent Systems

Synthetic solvent systems for the fine‐tuned preparation of CdS nanocrystallites, active in visible‐light photocatalytic hydrogen production, were studied. To control crystallite size and spectral properties, the CdS crystals were synthesised by using different solvent systems, containing a series of tetrabutylammonium amino carboxylate ionic liquids as the crystal‐growth control agents. Six samples of CdS, all with similar physical and spectral properties, exhibited greatly varying photocatalytic activity, with the most active sample outperforming the least active one by almost 60 %. To rationalise this effect, the intermolecular interactions of the synthesis solvent system with the growing CdS nanocrystallites were characterised by using the Reichart betaine dye and the ${E{{{\rm N}\hfill \atop {\rm T}\hfill}}}$ polarity scale. A correlation was observed between the ${E{{{\rm N}\hfill \atop {\rm T}\hfill}}}$ values of the solvent system and the photocatalytic activity of the CdS nanocrystallite, suggesting that the hydrogen‐bond‐donating ability and/or dipolarity/polarisability interactions of the solvent system led to the preferential formation of active surfaces/surface sites on the CdS crystals.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Solvatochromism Investigation of Mixed Ligand Chelate Copper(II) Complexes with Acetyleacetonate and Three Diamine Ligands

The syntheses of three mixed ligand chelate copper(II) complexes of the type [Cu(L)(acac)(H₂O)]BPh₄ where acac=acetyleacetonate; L=N,N‐dimethyl,N′‐benzylethane‐1,2‐diamine ( L¹ ), N,N‐dimethyl, N′‐2‐methylbenzylethane‐1,2‐diamine ( L² ) or N,N‐dimethyl,N′‐2‐chlorobenzylethane‐1,2‐diamine ( L³ ) are reported and characterized by elemental analyses, spectroscopic and molar conductance measurements. The X‐ray structure of complex 1 shows that the central copper atom is placed in a distorted square pyramidal geometry made by acac and diamine chelate in the base and a H₂O molecule on the apex. The prepared complexes are fairly soluble in a large number of organic solvents and show positive solvatochromism. Calculations of SMLR (stepwise multiple linear regression) method was utilized to find the best model explaining the observed solvatochromic behavior and showed that among different solvent parameters, donor number (DN) is a dominant factor responsible for the shift in the d‐d absorption band of the complexes to the lower wavenumber with increasing its values. The importance of substituent effect in diamine ligand on the spectral and SMLR measurements is also discussed.     

Progress on phthalocyanine-conjugated Ag and Au nanoparticles: Synthesis,characterization, and photo-physicochemical properties

Phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes are an important class of dyes with numerous (e.g., biological, photophysical, and analytical) applications. Among the methods used to improve the properties of these complexes, one should mention the introduction of different substituents, variation of the central metal ion, ligand exchange, and conjugation to nanomaterials (e.g., carbon-based nanomaterials and metal nanoparticles (NPs)). This work briefly reviews Pc complex conjugation to Ag and Au NPs, highlights the different NP shapes, and discusses the diversity of conjugation approaches. Moreover, the use of UV–Vis spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, dynamic light scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to characterize Pc-NP hybrids is summarized. The effect of conjugation on Pc photo-physicochemical properties (fluorescence, singlet oxygen generation, triplet state formation, and optical limiting behavior) is discussed, and future perspectives for the synthesis and applications of new hybrids are provided.     

Chitosan‐modified graphene oxide as a modifier for improving the structure and performance of forward osmosis membranes

Chitosan (CS) with good hydrophilicity and charged property was used to modify graphene oxide (GO), the obtained GO‐CS was used as a novel modifier to fabricate thin film composite forward osmosis (FO) membranes. The results revealed that the amino groups on CS reacted with carboxyl groups on GO, and the lamellar structure of the GO nanosheets was peeled off by CS, resulting in the reducing of their thicknesses. The GO‐CS improved the hydrophilicity of polyethersulfone (PES) substrate, and their contact angles decreased to 64° with the addition of GO‐CS in the substrate. GO‐CS also increased the porosity of the substrate and surface roughness of FO membrane, thereby optimizing the water flux and reverse salt flux of FO membrane. The average water flux of the FO membrane reached the optimal flux of 21.34 L/(m² h) when GO‐CS addition was 0.5 wt%, and further addition of GO‐CS to the substrate would decrease the water flux of FO membrane, and the reverse salt flux also decreased to the lowest value of 2.26 g/(m² h). However, the salt rejection of the membrane increased from 91.4% to 95.1% when GO‐CS addition increased from 0.5 to 1.0 wt% under FO mode using 1 mol/L sodium chloride (NaCl) solution as draw solution (DS). In addition, high osmotic pressure favored water permeation, and at the same concentration of DS, magnesium chloride (MgCl₂) exhibited better properties than NaCl. These results all suggested that GO‐CS was a good modifier to fabricate FO membrane, and MgCl₂ was a good DS candidate.     

Electronic Finetuning of 8-Methoxy Psoralens by Palladium-Catalyzed Coupling: Acidochromicity and Solvatochromicity

Differently 5-substituted 8-methoxypsoralens can be synthesized by an efficient synthetic route with various cross-coupling methodologies, such as Suzuki, Sonogashira and Heck reaction. Compared to previously synthesized psoralens, thereby promising daylight absorbing compounds as potentially active agents against certain skin diseases can be readily accessed. Extensive investigations of all synthesized psoralen derivatives reveal fluorescence in the solid state as well as several distinctly emissive derivatives in solution. Donor-substituted psoralens exhibit remarkable photophysical properties, such as high fluorescence quantum yields and pronounced emission solvatochromicity and acidochromicity, which were scrutinized by Lippert–Mataga and Stern–Volmer plots. The results indicate that the compounds exceed the limit of visible light, a significant factor for potential applications as an active agent. In addition, (TD)DFT calculations were performed to elucidate the underlying electronic structure and to assign experimentally obtained data.     

NaBr对C12-s-C12•2Br/氯仿体系中反胶团增溶水能力的影响

近红外(NIR)光谱技术可用于表征氯仿体系中反胶团增溶水的能力. 对于C12-s-C12•2Br (s=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8)系列, 不论体系是否含有NaBr电解质, 由于具有较短联接链的表面活性剂易形成较大的反胶团, 其增溶水的能力随着联接链长度增加而降低. 与未含NaBr电解质的体系相比, 当体系中存在NaBr电解质时所形成的反胶团增溶水能力降低.     

反胶束法制备直接甲醇燃料电池Pt-Sn/C催化剂及其表征

在水/AOT/环己烷反胶束体系中, 制备了Pt-Sn/C催化剂, 研究了不同ω (反胶束溶液中水与表面活性剂的物质量之比)值对Pt-Sn粒径的影响. 并采用TEM, XRD, XPS, 循环伏安等技术对其进行表征. TEM结果表明合成的Pt-Sn纳米颗粒为球形, 在碳载体表面均匀分布, 粒径分布窄, 平均粒径为2.7 nm. Pt-Sn颗粒尺寸随着ω的增加而增大. XRD结果表明该催化剂中Pt具有面心立方结构且没有与Sn形成合金. XPS结果表明在该催化剂中, Pt主要以零价态存在. 在甲醇溶液中的循环伏安扫描结果表明, 甲醇氧化峰电位和峰电流随着ω的增加而减小, 说明反胶束方法可以通过控制颗粒尺寸, 从而影响催化剂的电氧化活性. 相对于商用Pt-Ru/Vulcan XC-72 (20 wt%, E-TEK公司), 该催化剂具有较低的峰电势以及较高的I_f/I_b (循环伏安曲线中正向扫描峰电流与反向扫描峰电流的比值), 这表明用此方法制备的Pt-Sn/C催化剂具有较好的抗中毒能力.