Modeling and multi-objective optimization of commercial ethylene oxide reactor to strike a delicate balance between profit and negative environmental impact.

The present work emphasizes the development of a generic methodology that addresses the core issue of any running chemical plant, i.e., how to maintain a delicate balance between profit and environmental impact.

Development of 6-Thioguanine conjugated PLGA nanoparticles through thioester bond formation: Benefits of electrospray mediated drug encapsulation and sustained release in cancer therapeutic applications.

Polymeric nanoparticle-based successful delivery of hydrophobic drugs is highly desirable for its controlled and sustained release at the disease site, which is a challenge with the current synthesis methods. In the present study, an electrospray mediated facile one-step synthesis approach is explored in which a solution mixture of a hydrophobic drug, 6-thioguanine (Tg) and a biocompatible FDA approved polymer, Poly (d, l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) is injected in an applied electric field of suitable intensity to prepare drug encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles, PLGA-Tg with high yield. In order to explore the effect of external electric field on Tg loading and delivery applications, the nanoparticles are characterized using EDX, AFM, FESEM, TEM, FTIR, Raman, fluorescence, and mass spectroscopy techniques.

Ethylenediamine assisted functionalization of self-organized poly (d, l-lactide-co-glycolide) patterned surface to enhance cancer cell isolation.

Protein functionalized micro-scale patterned structures are developed using a biocompatible polymer PLGA (poly (d, l-lactide-co-glycolide)) via thin film dewetting and by step-wise chemical conjugations with EDA (ethylenediamine) and anti-EpCAM (Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule) antibodies to target the epithelial cell adhesion molecules of cancer cells. The effectiveness of such protein functionalized patterned surface is checked through cell isolation process using blood samples spiked with different cancer cells such as MCF-7, A549, MDA-MB-231. An efficient capture yield of 92% is obtained with MCF-7 cells over a two hour incubation time.

A novel approach to fabricate dye-encapsulated polymeric micro- and nanoparticles by thin film dewetting technique.

A new method is reported for fabrication of polymeric micro- and nanoparticles from an intermediate patterned surface originated by dewetting of a polymeric thin film. Poly (d, l-lactide-co-glycolide) or PLGA, a biocompatible polymer is used to develop a thin film over a clean glass substrate which dewets spontaneously in the micro-/nano-patterned surface of size range 50nm to 3.5µm.

Pathways from disordered to ordered nanostructures from defect guided dewetting of ultrathin bilayers.

Transitions from spinodal to pattern-guided dewetting of a bilayer of ultrathin films (<10nm) confined between a pair of patterned surfaces have been explored employing molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. The physical or chemical defects of different sizes and shapes are decorated on the confining substrates by either removal or addition of multiple layers of similar or dissimilar atoms. The simulations are performed to identify the transition from spinodal pathway to the heterogeneous nucleation route, with the variation in the size of the substrate patterns.

Evaporation of water droplets on Pt-surface in presence of external electric field--A molecular dynamics study.

Evaporation of a sessile droplet on a hot solid substrate is an important problem in fluid mechanics. It is relevant to theoretical issues in heat transfer as well as several practical applications. This study investigates the spreading and evaporation of a nanoscale water droplet on a solid platinum surface.

A paper based microfluidic device for easy detection of uric acid using positively charged gold nanoparticles.

A paper based microfluidic device is fabricated that can rapidly detect very low concentrations of uric acid (UA) using 3,5,3',5'-tetramethyl benzidine (TMB), H2O2 and positively charged gold nanoparticles ((+)AuNPs). In the presence of (+)AuNPs, H2O2 reacts with TMB to produce a bluish-green colour which becomes colourless on reaction with UA. This colorimetric method can detect as low as 8.

Self-organized pathways to nanopatterns exploiting the instabilities of ultrathin confined bilayers.

Self-organized interfacial instabilities of an ultrathin bilayer confined between a pair of rigid surfaces is explored. The bilayers are classified based on the macroscopic dewetting behaviors of the liquid films sandwiched between a pair of confining surfaces having surface energy higher or lower than the liquid films. Linear and nonlinear analyses employing the governing equations originating from the continuum description together with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations unveil the salient spatiotemporal features of the dewetting process.

Vapor-liquid phase coexistence and transport properties of two-dimensional oligomers.

Grand-canonical transition-matrix Monte Carlo and histogram reweighting techniques are used herein to study the vapor-liquid coexistence properties of two-dimensional (2D) flexible oligomers with varying chain lengths (m = 1-8). The phase diagrams of the various 2D oligomers follow the correspondence state (CS) principle, akin to the behavior observed for bulk oligomers. The 2D critical density is not influenced by the oligomer chain length, which contrasts with the observation for the bulk oligomers.