Hydrophobic Monomers Recognize Microenvironments in Hydrogel Microspheres during Free-Radical-Seeded Emulsion Polymerization

The three-dimensional structure of nanocomposite microgels was precisely determined by cryo-electron micrography. Several nanocomposite microgels that differ with respect to their nanocomposite structure, which were obtained from seeded emulsion polymerization in the presence of microgels, were used as model nanocomposite materials for cryo-electron micrography. The obtained three-dimensional segmentation images of these nanocomposite microgels provide important insights into the interactions between the hydrophobic monomers and the microgels, that is, hydrophobic styrene monomers recognize molecular-scale differences in polarity within the microgels during the emulsion polymerization. This result led to the formation of unprecedented multi-layered nanocomposite microgels, which promise substantial potential in colloidal applications.     

Simple, expedient methods for the determination of water and electrolyte contents of cellulose solvent systems

The concentrations of water, W, and electrolytes present in solutions of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide, LiCl/DMAc, and of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. x-hydrate in DMSO, TBAF.xW/DMSO can be accurately and expediently determined by three independent methods, UV–vis, FTIR and EMF measurement. The first relies on the use of solvatochromic probes whose spectra are sensitive to solution composition. It is applicable to W/LiCl/DMAc solutions but not to TBAF.xW/DMSO, because the charge-transfer complex bands of the probes are suppressed by strong interactions with the latter electrolyte. Integration of ν_OH band of water may be employed in order to determine [W], hence [electrolyte] by weight difference. EMF measurement uses ion-selective electrodes in order to determine [electrolyte], hence [W] by weight difference. Results of the latter method were in excellent agreement with those of FTIR. The reason for the failure of Karl Fischer titration is addressed, and the relevance of the results obtained to functionalization of cellulose under homogenous solution conditions is briefly commented on.     

Preparation of Functional Fluorescent Microspheres Used for HTS and Their Interaction with Biomolecules

There is considerable interest in protein adsorption onto microspheres because of its importance in a wide range of biomedical applications, such as artificial tissues and organs, drug delivery systems, biosensors, solid-phase immunoassays, immunomagnetic cell separation and immobilized enzymes or catalyst. It has been well known that the interaction between proteins and microspheres plays important roles in this process. Major interaction involved in the adsorption can be classified as electrostatic, hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding. Indeed, adsorption of proteins onto microspheres is a complex process and often can involve many dynamic steps, from the initial attachment of the protein on the surface of microspheres to the equilibrium. Also the conformation of proteins probably occurs to a certain degree of deformation or structural change due to the large area of contact. Recently, much interest has been shown in sulfonated microspheres, since sulfonate-group itself is one of components in bio-bodies, as well as is sensitive to the change of pH or ionic strength. Indeed, so far, scanty investigations have been performed in the full range. Also few researches have involved the data on adsorption rate and the maximum amount of protein adsorbed, or the reversibility of the process and conformational change of protein adsorbed as well.In present study, BSA (bovine serum albumin) was chosen as the model protein and sulfonated PMMA [poly(methyl methacrylate)] microspheres as the matrix to investigate the adsorption process.The purpose is to show some information especially the intrinsic information involved by the adsorption process Adsorption of BSA onto sulfonated microspheres (MS) has been investigated as a function of time, protein concentration and pH. The adsorption appears to be a reversible process and the presence of sulfonate groups can play important roles in the adsorption process, so as to increase the amount of protein adsorbed and influences the interaction of BSA molecules. Fig. 1 also shows that the reciprocation between unadsorbed and adsorbed BSA or rearrangement of adsorbed BSA molecules does not produce visible change in the properties of the adsorbed protein. Close to the isoelectric point of BSA (pI 4.7), the amount of protein adsorbed exhibits a maximum. A higher or lower pH results in the significant decrease of the adsorption amount. This is related to the dependence of BSA conformations at different pH conditions.     

Chalcogenide based all-solid-state thin electroplated ion-selective membrane for Hg(II) flow-injection determinations

The response to Hg(II) of a thin all-solid-state Te-doped silver chalcogenide membrane, described by the general formula Ag₂ + δSe_{1 − x}Te_x, which has been electrochemically prepared following a previously proposed approach, has been investigated. The kinetics of formation of the membrane's secondary dynamic response to Hg(II) has been successfully combined with the precise timing and transient signal, typical for flow-injection (FI) measurements, in developing a sensitive and reliable mercury FI detector. Under optimized stream conditions it exhibits a linear Nernstian response, with a double slope of the calibration graph of 59 mV dec⁻¹, over the mercury(II) concentration range 10⁻⁶ − 10⁻³ M, the typical sample throughput amounting to about 70 samples per hour. The observed chemical amplification of the signal is due to the specificity of the processes dominating the initial step in formation of the steady-state signal of the membrane to mercury. The analytical performance of the Hg(II) FI detector, as regards sensitivity, reproducibility, selectivity and long-term stability has been thoroughly investigated. The exact procedure for membrane electrodeposition is given and the potential of the proposed approach as a cost-effective way for preparing chalcogenides of unique structure and properties has been outlined in the above context.     

Synthesis and adsorption properties of gold nanoparticles within pores of surface‐functional porous polymer microspheres

Mesoporous polymer microspheres with gold (Au) nanoparticles inside their pores were prepared considering their surface functionality and porosity. The Au/polymer composite microspheres prepared were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) techniques. The results showed that the adsorption of Au nanoparticles could be increased by imparting the pore structure and surface‐functional groups into the supporting polymer microspheres (in this study, poly (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate‐co‐acrylonitrile) and poly (EGDMA‐co‐AN) system). Above all, from this study, it was established that the porosity of the polymer microspheres is the most important factor that determines the distribution and adsorption amount of face‐centered cubic (fcc) Au nanoparticles in the final products. Our study showed that the continuous adsorption of Au nanoparticles with the aid of the large surface area and surface interaction sites formed more favorably the Au/polymer composite microspheres. The BET measurements of Au/poly(EGDMA‐co‐AN) composite microspheres reveals that the adsorption of Au nanoparticles into the pores kept the pore structure intact and made it more porous. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5627–5635, 2004     

Chemical analysis of acidic silicon etch solutions: I. Titrimetric determination of HNO3, HF, and H2SiF6

The chemical etching of silicon using HF-HNO₃ mixtures is a widely used process in the processing of silicon wafers for microelectronic or photovoltaic applications. The control of the etch bath composition is the necessary condition for an effective bath utilization, for the replenishment of the consumed acids, and to maintain a certain etch rate. The present paper describes two methods for the total analysis of the individual etch bath constituents HF, HNO₃, and H₂SiF₆. Both methods start with an aqueous acid-base titration determining the total acid concentration and the concentration of H₂SiF₆. The first method is an acid-base titration using a 0.1 mol L⁻¹ methanolic solution of cyclohexylamine (CHA) as non-aqueous titrant to determine the content of nitric acid. Then, the amount of hydrofluoric acid is calculated from the difference between the total acid and nitric acid content. The second method is based on the determination of the total fluoride concentration using a fluoride ion-selective electrode (F-ISE). The content of hydrofluoric acid is obtained from the difference between the total fluoride content and the amount of fluoride bound as H₂SiF₆. The amount of nitric acid results finally calculated as difference to the total acid content.     

Preparation of Micron-size Functional Fluorescent Microspheres

As a kind of special functional microspheres, fluorescent polymer microspheres could be used in cell label and separation, blood flow assay, flow cytometer marking, chemical reaction assay,and in analyst of the transform and diffusion of particles in soil 1. However, one of the most important applications of fluorescent microspheres is in the high-throughput screening of drugs (HTS) 2. Through affinity interaction, radioactive ligands (latent drugs) are bound to fluorescent microspheres covered by receptor, and luminescence is produced by radioactivity, so ligands can be assayed and screened.In this study, we developed a technique for preparing micron-size fluorescent microspheres with different functional groups. The methods included the synthesis of micron-size polystyrene microspheres through the dispersion polymerization of styrene in different media such as ethanol,ethanol-water, and isopropanol; the functional polystyrene microspheres were prepared by introduction of functional monomers into the reaction system of styrene; the functional fluorescent microspheres were obtained by the way of dying functional microspheres in the fluorescent material's ethanol solvent.The average diameter of microspheres was in the range of 1～10 μm, and the distribution was normal distribution. The functional groups included -OH, -CHO, -COOH, -CONH2, and SO3H. The absorbing spectrum and exciting spectrum were tested, the results showed that the maximal absorbance of fluorescent microsphere was near 306.5 nm, and its maximal excitation was near 362 nm. The excitation spectrum of fluorescent material (DPO) and fluorescent microspheres were shown in figure 1, and it indicated that the developed fluorescent microspheres showed the same excitation behavior like DPO, which related to the fluorescent microspheres had stable luminescence property.     

复合Fe2O3纳米粒子的高分子微球的结构表征

近年来，复合有机、无机粒子的高分子微球及其特殊性质越来越引起人们的兴趣与关注［1］．获得有机、无机复合微球的方法很多，如在无机粒子存在下的乳液或无皂乳液聚会[2，3]，通过可聚合的表面活性剂在粒子表面形成胶囊化层[4]以及共沉淀法等[5]．这些无机粒子包括氧化钛、氧化铁、氧化铝及氧化硅等．Haga等[6]增发现包覆在聚合物粒子中的CdS与其本体的光电性质不同；单分散的聚合物微球可以在基片上被组装成二维乃至三维有序的结构[7]．这为信息存储、立体印刷等领域提供了新途径．因此，将无机粒子与聚合物复合成为功能化粒子是一项有…     

赖氨酸修饰壳聚糖磁性超微载体的制备和表征

本文设计并合成了良好水溶性的赖氨酸修饰壳聚糖,并对制备工艺进行了优化.产物通过红外(FTIR)和核磁(1H-NMR)进行了表征,并将其作为壳层材料制备了赖氨酸修饰壳聚糖磁性超微载体.通过光电能谱(XPS)、透射(TEM)、激光粒度仪、X射线衍射(XRD)、磁性能测试(VSM)对载体进行了表征.结果表明,制备的赖氨酸修饰壳聚糖磁性超微载体表面带有大量的氨基(-NH2),粒径分布较为均一(100nm左右),形貌较为规则,并具有良好的超顺磁性,因而该载体具有更加良好的性能.     

集成微管路离子选择电极功能块研究

本文对微型管状离子选择电极在流动条件下的电化学特征进行了研究,并设计了新的集成微管路离子选择以电极功能块。用此微型装置测定了土壤、血清、水和药物中的K~+、Na~+、pH、Cl~-、F~-、阿托品、东茛菪碱,并和各种标准方法作了比较,获得满意分析结果。