Modelling and experimental investigation of effects of moisture and operating parameters during the adsorption of CO2 onto polyaspartamide

Parametric effect of moisture and influence of operating variables on the adsorption behaviour of polyaspartamide during CO2 capture was investigated in this study using experimental and modelling approach. Individual effects of operating conditions (e.g. pressure, temperature and gas flow rates) as well as the effect of moisture on the adsorption capacity of polyaspartamide were methodically investigated using Dubinin-Raduskevich model. Results from the investigations reveal that the presence of moisture in the flue gas had an incremental effect on the adsorption capacity of polyaspartamide;thereby showcasing the potential of polyaspartamide as a suitable hydrophilic material for CO2 capture in power plants. In addition, pressure, temperature and gas flow rates at 200 kPa, 403 K, and 1.5 mL/s, respectively, sig? nificantly influenced the CO2 adsorption capacity of polyaspartamide. Physisorption and chemisorption both governed the adsorption process while equilibrium studies at different temperatures showed that Langmuir isotherm could adequately describe the adsorption behaviour of the material with best fit with R^2>0.95.

Synthesis and in vitro Property Study of Polyaspartamides

Cationic polyaspartamides including poly-α,β-[N＇-（2-aminoethyl）-L-aspartamide] （PAEA）, poly-α,β-[N＇-（4- aminobutyl）-L-aspartamide] （PABA）, poly-α,β-[N＇-（6-aminohexyl）-L-aspartamide] （PAHA）, poly-α,β-[N＇-（5-amino- 3-azapentyl）-L-aspartamide] （PAAPA） and poly-α,β-[N＇-（8-amino-3,6-diazaoctyl）-L-aspartamide] （PADAOA） were synthesized from polysuccinimide. Their properties were evaluated by ^1H NMR, IR, GPC, fluorescence measurement and in vitro cytotoxicity assays. The molecular weights per primary amine charge group of PAEA（1） （Mn= 2229）, PAAPA and PADAOA are 212, 279, and 226. Polyaspartamides including PAEA（1）, PAAPA, PADAOA and low molecular weight PAHA are markedly less toxic than poly（ethyleneimine） and poly（L-lysine）, however, PABA and higher molecular weight PAHA are slightly less toxic than poly（L-lysine）. Cell cytotoxicity of PAHA was seen to decrease with increasing molecular weight of PAHA, due to water solubility reduction. The negatively charged plasmid DNA has been found to be completely neutralized and complexed by the cationic polyaspartamides at an N/P ratio of 5 ： 1 to 10 ： 1, forming self-assembled polyplexes via ionic interactions. These polyaspartamide/DNA complexes possess stable zeta potentials and mean particle diameters of about 180 nm for PAEA （1）/DNA and PAAPA/DNA complexes and 280 nm for PADAOA/DNA complexes.

Liver-targeting macromolecular MRI contrast agents

Macromolecular ligands with liver-targeting group (pyridoxamine, PM) PHEA-DTPA-PM and PAEA-DTPA-PM were prepared by the incorporation of different amount of diethylenetria-minepentaacetic acid monopyridoxamine group (DTPA-PM) into poly-α, β-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-L-aspartamide] (PHEA) and poly-α, β-[N-(2-aminoethyl)-L-aspartamide] (PAEA). The macromolecular ligands thus obtained were further complexed with gadolinium chloride to give macromolecular MRI contrast agents with different Gd(III) contents. These macromolecular ligands and their gadolinium complexes were characterized by1H NMR, IR, UV and elementary analysis. Relaxivity studies showed that these polyaspartamide gadolinium complexes possess higher relaxation effectiveness than that of the clinically used Gd-DTPA. Magnetic resonance imaging of the liver in rats and experimental data of biodistribution in mice indicate that these macromolecular MRI contrast agents containing pyridoxamine exhibit liver-targeting property.