Chlorination of quorum sensing molecules: Kinetics and transformation pathways.

The impact of chlorination on quorum sensing molecules (QSMs) is not often addressed in disinfection research. Yet pathogenicity and biofilm formation are controlled by quorum sensing (QS) in many bacteria. Chemical transformation of the compounds could have an impact on all of these processes.

Development of an analytical method to quantify N-acyl-homoserine lactones in bacterial cultures, river water, and treated wastewater.

N-Acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) play a major role in the communication of Gram-negative bacteria. They influence processes such as biofilm formation, swarming motility, and bioluminescence in the aquatic environment. A comprehensive analytical method was developed to elucidate the "chemical communication" in pure bacterial cultures as well as in the aquatic environment and engineered environments with biofilms.

How Surface and Substrate Chemistry Affect Slide Electrification.

When water droplets move over a hydrophobic surface, they and the surface become oppositely charged by what is known as slide electrification. This effect can be used to generate electricity, but the physical and especially the chemical processes that cause droplet charging are still poorly understood. The most likely process is that at the base of the droplet, an electric double layer forms, and the interfacial charge remains on the surface behind the three-phase contact line.

Solvothermal synthesis of VO nanoparticles with locally patched VO surface layer and their morphology-dependent catalytic properties for the oxidation of alcohols.

Vanadium oxides are promising oxidation catalysts because of their rich redox chemistry. We report the synthesis of VO nanocrystals with VO(B) crystal structure. By varying the mixing ratio of the components of a binary ethanol/water mixture, different VO nanocrystal morphologies (nanorods, -urchins, and -sheets) could be made selectively in pure form.