Publications by authors named "D A Enke"

Porous boron nitrides possess beneficial properties such as high thermal and chemical stability which are critical for applications in adsorption processes. In order to assess possible fields of applications, trace-level adsorption isotherms of different hydrocarbons on two synthesized porous boron nitrides and two commercial activated carbons are compared. By normalizing the adsorptive loadings on the micropore surface area, superior adsorption performances of the BN materials on polar and aromatic adsorptives with up to 50% higher loadings compared to the activated carbons can be shown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microcystins, a large family of nonribosomal cyclic heptapeptides known for their hepatotoxicity, are among the best-studied cyanobacterial toxins. Recently, they have been discussed as leads for the development of anticancer drug substances. Their main mode-of-action is inhibition of the eukaryotic serine/threonine protein phosphatases 1 and 2A.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The present study investigated the adsorption of diclofenac sodium (DCF) and carbamazepine (CBZ) on carbon-silica composites (CSC), activated carbon (RH-AC) and biogenic silica (RH-BS) based on rice husks from aqueous solutions. The materials were characterised using scanning electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, nitrogen sorption and elemental analysis. These methods provided essential information on the morphology, chemical composition, textural properties and surface characteristics of porous materials.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Compared to other forms of drug administration, the use of Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems (TDDSs) offers significant advantages, including uniform drug release profiles that contribute to lower side effects and higher tolerability, avoidance of direct exposure to the gastrointestinal tract, better patient compliance due to their non-invasive means of application and others. Mesoporous silica membranes are of particular interest in this regard, due to their chemical stability and their tunable porous system, with adjustable pore sizes, pore volumes and surface chemistries. While this allows for fine-tuning and, thus, the development of optimized TDDSs with high loading capacities and the desired release profile of a given drug, its systemic availability also relies on skin penetration.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In the present work, a recently developed statistical theory for adsorption and desorption processes in mesoporous solids, modeled by random Bethe lattices, has been applied to obtain pore size distributions and interpore connectivity from sorption isotherms in real random porous materials, employing a robust and validated methodology. Using the experimental adsorption-desorption N isotherms at 77.4 K on Vycor glass, a porous material with random pore structure, we demonstrate the solution of the inverse problem resulting in extracted pore size distribution and interpore connectivity, notably different from the predictions of earlier theories.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF