Synthesis of polycationic nanoparticles for microbial inhibition and killing.

Antimicrobial polymers (AMP) appear to be a promising candidate to deal with the current scenario of bacterial resistance against conventional drugs and antibiotics as they mainly depend on disrupting the bacterial membrane. This work investigates the effect of polycations bearing aromatic and aliphatic pendant cationic groups on the antimicrobial performance of AMP. A radical polymerization strategy was adopted to synthesize two different copolymers and convert them into polycations upon post-modification.

Alkyl-chain-grafted hexagonal boron nitride nanoplatelets as oil-dispersible additives for friction and wear reduction.

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an isoelectric analogous to graphene multilayer, can easily shear at the contact interfaces and exhibits excellent mechanical strength, higher thermal stability, and resistance toward oxidation, which makes it a promising material for potential lubricant applications. However, the poor dispersibility of h-BN in lube base oil has been a major obstacle. Herein, h-BN powder was exfoliated into h-BN nanoplatelets (h-BNNPs), and then long alkyl chains were chemically grafted, targeting the basal plane defect and edge sites of h-BNNPs.