Development and Characterization of Gelatin-Based Hydrogels Containing Triblock Copolymer and Phytic Acid.

In recent research, significant interest has been directed towards gelatin-based hydrogels due to their affordable price, extensive availability, and biocompatibility, making them promising candidates for various biomedical applications. The development and characterization of novel hydrogels formed from varying ratios of gelatin, triblock copolymer Pluronic F-127, and phytic acid have been presented. Swelling properties were examined at different pH levels.

Integration of wood-based components - Cellulose nanofibrils and tannic acid - into a poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix to improve functional properties.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) biocomposite films reinforced with cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and biologically active tannic acid (TA) were prepared. The influence of different concentrations of CNF and TA in the PVA polymer matrix was investigated in terms of mechanical properties, thermal properties and hydrophobicity improvement of the prepared films. The results showed that in all cases the addition of CNF and TA improved the values of tensile strength and elastic modulus.

Improved Synthetic Route of Incorporation of Nanosilicon Species into Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin and Preparation of Novel ZnAl-Layered Double-Hydroxide Hybrid Phenol-Formaldehyde Resin.

Hybrid phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins represent one of the most important niche groups of binding systems for composites. New industrial needs, environmental requirements, and price fluctuations have led to further research on materials with enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. The preparation of novel hybrid materials can be achieved by inclusion of various elements or functional groups in the organic polymer phenolic framework.

Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Films: Synthesis Approaches, Factors Affecting Environmental Activity, and Characterization Features.

Solar-powered photocatalysis has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1990s, producing more than a thousand research papers per year over the past decade. In this review, immobilized photocatalysts operating under sunlight are highlighted. First, a literature review of solar-driven films is presented, along with some fundamental operational differences in relation to reactions involving suspended nanoparticles.

A Novel Artificial Hemoglobin Carrier Based on Heulandite-Calcium Mesoporous Aluminosilicate Particles.

Tetraethyl-orthosilicate (TEOS)-based nanoparticles are most extensively used as a silica-based hemoglobin carrier system. However, TEOS-based nanoparticles induce adverse effects on the hemoglobin structure. Therefore, a heulandite-calcium-based carrier was investigated as a novel silica-based hemoglobin carrier system.

Metal and Non-Metal Modified Titania: the Effect of Phase Composition and Surface Area on Photocatalytic Activity.

The application of TiO2 photocatalysis in various environmental fields has been extensively studied in the last decades due to its ability to induce the degradation of adsorbed organic pollutants. In the present work, TiO2 powders doped and co-doped with sulfur and nitrogen and modified with platinum were prepared by particulate sol-gel synthesis. PXRD measurements revealed that the replacement of HCl with H2SO4 during synthesis reduced the size of the crystallites from ~ 30 nm to ~20 nm, increasing the surface area from ~44 m2/g to ~80 m2/g.

Preparation and characterization of innovative electrospun nanofibers loaded with pharmaceutically applicable ionic liquids.

Keeping up with cutting edge research in the field of drug delivery, the overall goal of this study was to develop innovative electrospun nanofibers loaded with ionic liquids (ILs) as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). For the first time, a novel approach was examined by combining biocompatible polymer, poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO), and pharmaceutical ILs in an electrospinning process to develop nanofibers with high drug loading (up to 47%). Firstly, two well-known local anaesthetic drugs, lidocaine and procaine, were modified into ILs with the salicylate, forming lidocaine salicylate and procaine salicylate.

Pyrithione metal (Cu, Ni, Ru) complexes as photo-catalysts for styrene oxide production.

Selective photochemical oxidation of styrene was performed in an active acetonitrile medium, using HO with or without ultraviolet (UV) light radiation. Pyrithione metal complexes (M-Pth: M = Cu(II), Ni(II), Ru(II); Pth = 2-mercaptopyridine-N-oxide) were used as catalysts. Catalytic testing measurements were done by varying the time, chemical reaction temperature and HO concentration with or without UV energy.

Highly active and efficient Cu-based hydrotalcite-like structured materials as reusable heterogeneous catalysts used for transcarbonation reaction.

A series of robust and efficient Cu-Al hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTLc) as catalysts were prepared by the simple precipitation method with different Cu/Al molar ratios and investigated for the transcarbonation of glycerol with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) for glycerol carbonate (GC) synthesis in a batch reactor. The structural and textural properties of the Cu-Al (HTLc) catalysts were analyzed by several methods like N-sorption, SEM-EDX/TEM, XRD, FTIR, CO-TPD, TGA/DTA and ICP-OES. It was found that the transcarbonation of glycerol is directly dependent on the strong basic sites of the catalysts.

Copper(II) Complexes with Mixed Heterocycle Ligands as Promising Antibacterial and Antitumor Species.

Complexes with mixed ligands [Cu(N-N)(pmtp)](ClO) (() N-N: 2,2'-bipyridine; () L: 1,10-phenanthroline and pmpt: 5-phenyl-7-methyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-]pyrimidine) were synthesized and structurally and biologically characterized. Compound () crystallizes into space group and () in -1. Both complexes display an intermediate stereochemistry between the two five-coordinated ones.

Acrylate-Based Hybrid Sol-Gel Coating for Corrosion Protection of AA7075-T6 in Aircraft Applications: The Effect of Copolymerization Time.

Pre-hydrolysed/condensed tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was added to a solution of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MAPTMS), and then copolymerised for various times to study the influence of the latter on the structure of hybrid sol-gel coatings as corrosion protection of aluminium alloy 7075-T6. The reactions taking place during preparation were characterised using real-time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and gel permeation chromatography. The solution characteristics were evaluated, using viscosimetry, followed by measurements of thermal stability determined by thermogravimetric analysis.

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination.

Titanium dioxide photocatalysts have received a lot of attention during the past decades due to their ability to degrade various organic pollutants to CO and HO, which makes them suitable for use in environmental related fields such as air and water treatment and self-cleaning surfaces. In this work, titania thin films and powders were prepared by a particulate sol-gel route, using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl) as a precursor. Afterwards, the prepared sols were doped with nitrogen (ammonium nitrate, urea), sulfur (thiourea) and platinum (chloroplatinic acid), coated onto glass substrates by dip-coating, and thermally treated in a muffle furnace to promote crystallization.

[MII(NCS)2(nia)2(OH2)2]: Preparation, Crystal Structure and Thermal Properties (MII = Mn, Fe; nia = nicotinamide).

Two novel isostructural coordination compounds of manganese(II) (1) and iron(II) (2) with common formulae [MII(NCS)2(nia)2(OH2)2] have been prepared from water solution of appropriate metal salt, nicotinamide and KSCN. Their crystal structures were determined by means of X-ray diffraction on single crystals. The mononuclear title compounds crystallize in a triclinic P-1 space group with six monodentate octahedrally arranged ligands around the metal centre.

Molecular dynamics of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate ionic liquid studied by H and F nuclear magnetic resonances.

The molecular dynamics of an ionic liquid (IL) composed of a 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and a triflate (trifluoromethanesulfonate) anion, abbreviated as [Emim][TfO], were studied by NMR spectroscopy. By measuring the temperature-dependent high-field 1H and F spin-lattice relaxation (SLR) rates, the frequency-dependent H and F SLR dispersion curves using fast-field-cycling relaxometry, and the temperature-dependent 1H and F diffusion constants, and by utilizing the fact that the primary NMR-active nucleus on the Emim cation is H, whereas on the TfO anion it is F, the cationic and anionic dynamics were studied separately. A single theoretical relaxation model successfully reproduced all the experimental data of both types of resonant nuclei by fitting all the data simultaneously with the same set of fit parameters.

Structural properties and thermal stability of cobalt- and chromium-doped α-MnO nanorods.

α-MnO nanorods were synthesized via the hydrothermal decomposition of KMnO in an acidic environment in the presence of Co and Cr ions. Reactions were carried out at three different temperatures: 90, 130 and 170 °C. All prepared samples exhibit a tetragonal MnO crystalline phase.

Encapsulation of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate into liposomes and into alginate or chitosan microparticles reinforced with liposomes.

Background: (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was encapsulated into liposomes that were further incorporated into alginate and chitosan microparticles. The stability of free and encapsulated EGCG in all three systems was evaluated at different pH values and in fruit nectar. Furthermore, the interactions between EGCG and the compounds of the microparticles were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO2 nanoribbons and the influence of the transformation strategies on the photocatalytic performance.

The influence of the reaction conditions during the transformation of hydrogen titanate nanoribbons to TiO2 nanoribbons on the phase composition, the morphology, the appearance of the nanoribbon surfaces and their optical properties was investigated. The transformations were performed (i) through a heat treatment in oxidative and reductive atmospheres in the temperature range of 400-650 °C, (ii) through a hydrothermal treatment in neutral and basic environments at 160 °C, and (iii) through a microwave-assisted hydrothermal treatment in a neutral environment at 200 °C. Scanning electron microscopy investigations showed that the hydrothermal processing significantly affected the nanoribbon surfaces, which became rougher, while the transformations based on calcination in either oxidative or reductive atmospheres had no effect on the morphology or on the surface appearance of the nanoribbons.

Hydroxyl radical scavenging-based method for evaluation of TiO₂ photocatalytic activity.

A novel hydroxyl radical scavenging method was developed to establish the photocatalytic activity of TiO₂ thin films. Transparent TiO₂ thin films were prepared on soda-lime glass substrates using the sol-gel method and characterized using X-ray diffraction. During photoirradiation in aqueous buffered solutions, activity of the films was followed using the substituted nitrobenzene N,N'-(5-nitro-1,3-phenylene)bisglutaramide as a hydroxyl radical scavenger and its hydroxylated products were quantified using HPLC.

Low-temperature synthesis and characterization of TiO2 and TiO2-ZrO2 photocatalytically active thin films.

Transparent TiO(2) and TiO(2)-ZrO(2) (molar ratio Zr/Ti = 0.1) thin films were produced by low-temperature sol-gel processing from nanocrystalline aqueous based solutions. The structural features and compositions of the films treated at room temperature, 100 degrees C and 500 degrees C were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal analysis.

The influence of the reaction temperature on the morphology of sodium titanate 1D nanostructures and their thermal stability.

We have synthesized large quantities of sodium-titanate-based nanotubes and nanoribbons with high yields under hydrothermal conditions from anatase powder in an aqueous NaOH solution. The reaction temperatures were from 95 to 195 degrees C, in steps of 20 degrees C. We observed that the morphology of the nanomaterials, which is reflected in their specific surface areas, depends strongly on the reaction temperature.