Uptake of albumin nanoparticle surface modified with glycyrrhizin by primary cultured rat hepatocytes

AIM: To investigate the uptake difference between bovine serum albumin nanoparticle (BSA-NP) and bovine serum albumin nanoparticles with their surface modified byglycyrrhizin (BSA-NP-GL) and to develop a novel hepatocyte targeting BSA-NP-GL based on active targeting technology mediated by specific binding site of GL on rat cellular membrane. METHODS: Calcein loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (Cal-BSA-NP) were prepared by desolvation process. Glycyrrhizin was conjugated to the surface reactive amino groups (SRAG) of Cal-BSA-NP by sodium periodate oxidization, which resulted in calcein-loaded bovine serum albumin nanoparticles with their surface modified by glycyrrhizin (Cal-BSA-NP-GL). The morphology of the two types of prepared nanoparticles (NP) was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The diameter of NP was measured with a laser particle size analyzer. The interaction between Cal-BSA-NP-GL and primary cultured hepatocytes was studied through cellular uptake experiments. The uptake amount of Cal-BSA-NPGL and Cal-BSA-NP by rat hepatocytes was determinedby fluorospectrophotometry. Uptake characteristics were investigated through experiments of competitive inhibition of specific binding site of GL. RESULTS: Both Cal-BSA-NP-GL and Cal-BSA-NP had regular spherical surfaces. The average diameter of CalBSA-NP-GL and Cal-BSA-NP was 77 and 79 nm respectively. The uptake amount of the two NP by hepatocytes reached its maximum at 2 h after incubation. The uptake amount of Cal-BSA-NP-GL by rat hepatocytes was 4.43-fold higher than that of Cal-BSA-NP. There was a significant difference in the uptake of Cal-BSA-NP-GL and Cal-BSA-NP by hepatocytes (P＜0.01). The uptake of Cal-BSA-NP-GL was inhibited when GL was added previously to isolated rat hepatocytes, and the uptake of Cal-BSA-NP was not affected by GL.CONCLUSION: A binding site of GL is present on the surface of rat hepatocytes, BSA-NP-GL may be internalized via this site by hepatocytes and can be used as a drug carrier for active targeting of delivery drugs to hepatocytes.

Screening of Surface Medication Agents and Modification Mechanism of Fly Ash

The fly ash from Jixi power plant was treated with various surface modifiers. The surface properties of the modified fly ash,including active index wetting angle,were measured in this paper. The modified fly ash was filled into rubber to improve the rubber properties. The results of rubber tests indicate that the type of the surface modifiers has a great influence on the rubber reinforcing properties. The fly ash modified by titanate coupling agents exhibits the best performance in respect to rubber reinforcing properties. The test results show that the fly ash can take place of some decomposition material so that the dosage of decomposition in rubber can be reduced,resulting in the low producing cost of rubber and the low pollution of fly ash.

Surface-Modified Graphene Oxide/Lead Sulfide Hybrid Film-Forming Ink for High-Efficiency Bulk Nano-Heterojunction Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells

Solution-processed colloidal quantum dot solar cells(CQDSCs) is a promising candidate for new generation solar cells.To obtain stable and high performance lead sulfide(PbS)-based CQDSCs,high carrier mobility and low non-radiative recombination center density in the PbS CQDs active layer are required.In order to effectively improve the carrier mobility in PbS CQDs layer of CQDSCs,butylamine(BTA)-modified graphene oxide(BTA@GO) is first utilized in PbS-PbX2(X=I-,Br-) CQDs ink to deposit the active layer of CQDSCs through one-step spin-coating method.Such surface treatment of GO dramatically upholds the intrinsic superior hole transfer peculiarity of GO and attenuates the hydrophilicity of GO in order to allow for its good dispersibility in ink solvent.The introduction of B TA@GO in CQDs layer can build up a bulk nano-heterojunction architecture,which provides a smooth charge carrier transport channel in turn improves the carrier mobility and conductivity,extends the carriers lifetime and reduces the trap density of PbS-PbX2 CQDs film.Finally,the BTA@GO/PbS-PbX2 hybrid CQDs film-based relatively large-area(0.35 cm2) CQDSCs shows a champion power conversion efficiency of 11.7% which is increased by 23.1% compared with the control device.

Effects of Surface Modifi cation on the Properties of Microcapsules for Self-healing

Poly（urea-formaldehyde）（UF） microcapsules with epoxy resin E-51 as core material used as self-healing materials were prepared by interfacial polymerization method. The surface of UF microcapsules was modifi ed by γ-（2,3-epoxypropoxy） propytrimethoxysilane（KH-560）. The interfacial interactions between UF microcapsules and KH-560 were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR） and X-ray photoelectron spectrometric analysis（XPS） of microcapsules. The surface topography of microcapsules was characterized by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）. The thermal stability and mechanical properties were evaluated. FTIR and XPS results showed that there were physical and chemical combinations between the silicon coupling agent and the microcapsules surface. The thermal stability and mechanical property analysis showed that the addition of KH-560 could greatly improve the thermal stability, tensile property and elastic property. SEM results indicated that the addition of KH-560 could improve the bonding between the surface of microcapsules and resin matrix and improve the ability of self-healing.

Controllable Nucleation of Nanobubbles at a Modified Graphene Surface

The properties of nanoscale gas bubbles at the solid/water interface have been investigated for more than 20 years. However, the stability of nanobubbles remains far from being understood. How to control the formation of nanobubbles is the key issue for understanding their long lifetime. In this work, using molecular dynamics simulations we modify the substrate （graphene） with charge dipoles in which the local properties of the surface could be changed. Nanobubbles could be stabilized on the local hydrophobic area and modified area with the hydrophilic boundary where gas nuclei are deposited beforehand. Those results provide two methods to control the nucleation of gas nanobubbles and fix them on a target area.

Abnormal IR Spectra of CO Adsorbed on the Surface of Glass Carbon Electrode Modified with Polypyrrole Film with Platinum Microparticles

Abnormal IR spectra of CO adsorbed at the surface of glass carbon electrode modified with polypyrrole film with Pt microparticles are reported.

Sorption of Heavy Metal and Organic Pollutants on Modified Soils

Sorption characteristics of both an organic pollutant (phenol) and a heavy metal (cadmium ion) on the clay layer of a Lou soil (Eum-orthic Anthrosol in Chinese Soil Taxonomy) along with the sorption mechanism were investigated using three soil treatments: modification with a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide added at an amount equivalent to 50% and 100% of the soil CEC (50%CB and 100%CB), modification with an amphoteric surface-modifying agent dodecyldimethylbetaine (commercially known as BS-12) added at an amount equivalent to 50% and 100% of the soil CEC (50% BS and 100%BS), and an unmodified control (CK). Results showed that the BS soil treatments increased sorption of both the heavy metal Cd2+ and the organic pollutant phenol. The equilibrium sorption amount of Cd2+ decreased in the order: 50%BS > 100%BS > CK > 50%CB > 100%CB, with the BS soil treatments being about 1.3 to 1.8 times higher and the CB soil treatments about 23% to 41% lower than CK. Both the single-site and two-site Langmuir models could be applied to describe the sorption of Cd2+ in each soil treatment. The equilibrium sorption amount of phenol on the soil samples decreased in the order: 100%CB > 50%CB > 100%BS > 50%BS > CK, with the CB soil treatments being 41.0 to 79.6 times higher and the BS soil treatments 4.0 to 8.3 times higher than CK. The Freundlich equation could also be used to describe the sorption characteristics of phenol. In the BS soil treatments, both an organophobic long carbon chain and hydrophilic charged groups resulted in a relatively strong sorption ability for both heavy metals and organic pollutants. In addition, the sorption ratio K, the ratio of phenol sorption amount of the modified soil to that of CK, increased initially and decreased later with the amount of phenol added, and the critical sorption ratio KC, the peak value of the sorption ratio curve plotted against the added phenol concentration, was a good index for evaluating the sorption ability of phenol in the soil.

Effects of Additives and Coagulant Temperature on Fabrication of High Performance PVDF/Pluronic F127 Blend Hollow Fiber Membranes via Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation

Poly（vinylidene fluoride） （PVDF） has become one of the most popular materials for membrane preparation via nonsolvent induced phase separation （NIPS） process. In this study, an amphiphilic block copolymer, Pluronic F127, has been used as both a pore-former and a surface-modifier in the fabrication of PVDF hollow fibermembranes to enhance the membrane permeability and hydrophilicity. The effects of 2nd additive and coagulant temperature on the formation of PVDF/Pluronic F 127 membranes have also been investigated. The as-spun hollow fibers were characterized in terms of cross-sectional morphology, pure water permeation （PWP）, relative molecular mass cut-off （MWCO）, membrane chemistry, and hydrolphilicity. It was obsered that the addition of Pluronic F 127 significantly increased the PWP of as-spun fibers, while the membrane contact angle was reduced. However, the size of macrovoids in the membranes was undesirably large. The addition of a 2nd additive, including lithium chloride （LiC1） and water, or an increase in coagulant temperature was found to effectively suppress the macrovoid for- mation in the Pluronic-containing membranes. In addition, the use of LiC1 as a 2nd additive also further enhanced the PWP and hydrophilicity of the membranes, while the surface pore size became smaller. PVDF hollow fiber with a PWP as high as 2330 L·m-2·h-1·MPa-1, a MWCO of 53000 and＇a contact angle of 71 o was successfully fabricated with 3% （by mass） of Pluronic F127 and 3% （by mass） of LiC1 at a coagulant temperature of 25 ℃, which shows better performance as compared with most of PVDF hollow fiber membranes made by NIPS method.

Experimental study on the biocompatibility of keratoprosthesis with improved titanium implant

AIM：To investigate whether hydroxyapatite（HAp）coating can improve keratoprosthesis（KPro）implant biointegration,ultimately to decrease the risk of implantassociated complications.METHODS：The modified titanium implant was designed and prepared for artificial cornea.The titanium implant was treated with sandblasting and hydroxyapatite coating by acid-base two-step method.Surface was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,KPro implants coated with HAp and KPro implant sandblasted were implanted in rabbits.Tissue adhesion to the implant was assessed and compared to an unmodified implant by histopathology（HE）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）and SEM.RESULTS：SEM demonstrated successful deposition of HAp on titanium implant sandblasted（HA/SB-Ti）.The hydroxyapatite coatings caused enhancement of keratocyte proliferation compared with unmodified implant surfaces.HAp coating significantly increased adhesion forces.HAp coating of implants reduced the inflammatory response around the KPro implants in vivo.CONCLUSION：HAp-coated surfaces for use in titanium KPro implant greatly enhanced adherence of the titanium KPro implant in the rabbit cornea.

Atmospheric-pressure Air Plasma Treatment of Polyester Fabrics for Inkjet Printing with Pigment Inks

Without any preprocessing,polyester fabric has lower ability to hold on water and inks due to the smooth morphology of polyester fibers. Therefore, patterns directly printed with pigment inks have poor color yields and bleed easily. Pretreatments of polyester fabric were carried out with atmospheric air plasma under different experimental conditions. After plasma treatment the samples were printed with magenta pigment ink. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses indicated that the enhanced color performance was mainly contributed by not only the etching effect but also oxygen-containing polar groups induced onto fiber surfaces through plasma treatment. Thereby the surface modification of polyester fabrics using atmospheric-pressure air plasma offers a potential way to fabric pretreatment for pigment inkjet printing with the advantages of environmental friendly and energy saving over traditional pretreatment methods.

Factors Affecting the Reductive Properties of the Core-Shell SiO2-Coated Iron Nanoparticles

In this study, novel core-shell SiO2-coated iron nanoparticles (SiO2-nZVI) were synthesized using a one-step Stoeber method. The Malachite green degradation abilities of the nanoparticles were investigated. The effects of ethanol/distilled water volume ratio, presence and absence of PEG, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) dosage, and hydrolysis time used in the nanoparticles preparation process were investigated. The results indicated that the SiO2-coated iron nanoparticles had the highest reduction activity when the particles synthesized with ethanol/H2O ratio of 2:1, PEG of 0.15 ml, TEOS of 0.5 ml and the reaction time was 4 h. The SiO2-nZVI nanoparticles were characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS) and powder X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the average particles diameter of the SiO2-nZVI was 20 - 30 nm. The thickness of the outside SiO2 film is consistent and approximately 10 nm. The results indicated that the nanoparticles coated completely with a transparent SiO2-film. Such nanoparticles could have wide applications in dye decolorization.

Steam activation of Fe-N-C catalyst for advanced power performance of alkaline hydrazine fuel cells

Alkaline hydrazine liquid fuel cells(AHFC) have been highlighted in terms of high power performance with non-precious metal catalysts.Although Fe-N-C is a promising non-Pt electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR),the surface density of the active site is very low and the catalyst layer should be thick to acquire the necessary number of catalytic active sites.With this thick catalyst layer,it is important to have an optimum pore structure for effective reactant conveyance to active sites and an interface structure for faster charge transfer.Herein,we prepare a Fe-N-C catalyst with magnetite particles and hierarchical pore structure by steam activation.The steam activation process significantly improves the power performance of the AHFC as indicated by the lower IR and activation voltage losses.Based on a systematic characterization,we found that hierarchical pore structures improve the catalyst utilization efficiency of the AHFCs,and magnetite nanoparticles act as surface modifiers to reduce the interracial resistance between the electrode and the ion-exchange membrane.

Derivatized Electrodes in the Electroanalysis of Pyrimethamine/2-Sulfanilamido-3-Methoxypyrazine （Metakelfin） and Lumefantrine/Artemeter （Coartem）

In this paper, the surface of the carbon graphite working electrode has been modified using pyrimethamine/2-sulfanilamido-3-methoxypyrazine （metakelfin） and lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem）-potent antimalarials. The electrochemical profiles of the surface modified electrodes have been studied using cyclic voltammetry. The results indicate that the metakelfin and lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem） have redox active moieties with the oxidation and reduction peaks for pyrimethamine/2-sulfanilamido-3-methoxypyrazine （metakelfin） modified electrode occurring at 0.510 V and 0.315 V, and that for lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem） occurring at 0.510 V and 0.300 V. Bentonite, a clay montmorrilonite with octahedral and tetrahedral sites which can undergo isomorphous substitution and other interactions was also used modify the electrode surface. The bentonite modified electrode was then used to study metakelfin and lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem）. It was observed that the redox properties of metakelfin and lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem） did not change significantly on the bentonite host matrix. It was observed that the redox activity of artemeter was totally inhibited on the bentonite matrix. Interaction of pyrimethamine/2-sulfanilamido-3-methoxypyrazine （metakelfin） and lumefantrine/artemeter （coartem） modified electrodes with selected biomolecules （methionine, arginine, leucine, tyrosine）, isonicotinic acid and acetyl salicyclic acid is also reported.

STUDY ON THE FUNCTION OF REINFORCED RUBBER OF MODIFIED POWDERED COAL ASH

The powdered coal ash (PCA) was classified, then the ash particle (- 45μm) was modified by a surface active agent and obtained modified powder coal ash (MPCA). The character of the MPC was investigated, when it was used as a new type reinforced filler of rubber.The results show that MPCA can replace or party replace carbon black or silica as reinforced fillers of rubbers.

Thermo-and pH-sensitive Polymer with Pendant Spacer-linked Imidazole Cycles

By the reaction of poly(acryloyl chloride) with N-(3-aminopropyl)imidazole, poly(N-(3-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)propyl)acrylamide) was synthesized. The new polymer contains an imidazole ring removed from the main chain by a spacer of five bonds. The structure and purity, molecular weight, hydrodynamic and thermosensitive properties of the obtained sample were studied by1H-and13C-NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, acid-base titration, light scattering, turbidimetry and viscometry. The observed ability of the imidazole-containing polymer to form and destroy associates in water-salt solutions at pH 6.6-7.4 and temperatures of 29-48℃ indicates that these are promising candidates for designing complex biomedical systems. The new polymer is able to form complexes with oligo-DNA more actively than poly(1-vinylimidazole), which is of interest for gene delivery applications. The polymer cross-linked with epichlorohydrin gives micro-relief coatings on the plastic surface, and the modified surface is able to attach negatively charged objects. This thermo-and pH-sensitive polymer modification can be applied to create finely controlled surfaces for cell culturing.

SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A NOVEL MACROMOLECULAR SURFACE MODIFIER FOR POLYETHYLENE

A new macromolecular surface modifier, a copolymer of lauryl methacrylate （LMA） and poly（ethylene glycol） methyl methacrylate （PEGMA）, was synthesized through free radical polymerization. The copolymer was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum （lH-NMR） and thermogravimetric analysis （TGA）. The copolymer was used to blend with polyethylene. The binary blends have been characterized by attenuated total reflection/Fourier transform infrared （ATR- FTIR）, contact-angle measurements （CDA） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The results indicated that poly（ethylene glycol） methyl methacrylate-co-lauryl methacrylate （PEGMA-co-LMA） could diffuse preferably onto the surface of the polyethylene （PE） film, and thus can be used as an efficient surface modifier for PE.

Aluminum Electroplating on AZ31 Magnesium Alloy with Acetic Anhydride Pretreatment

Magnesium(Mg)alloys for metal electroplating require a surface pretreatment,i.e.,the removal of the spontaneously oxidized surface layer(MgO,Mg(OH)_(2),andMgCO_(3)).However,the use of highly toxic and/or corrosive acids in conventional pretreatment processes has become an issue.In this study,a facile and less toxic pretreatment is demonstrated and applied in aluminum(Al)electroplating.The immersion of the AZ31 Mg alloy into acetic anhydride(Ac_(2)O)removed the spontaneously oxidized surface layer and formed a thin but stable magnesium acetate(Mg(OAc)_(2))layer that protects the metal substrate from further oxidation.The Al electroplating bath is a concentrated diglyme(G2)-AlCl_(3)organic solution that can readily dissolve Mg(OAc)_(2)to enable direct plating onto a metal substrate.The as-deposited Al layer has a compact and crack-free morphology that improves the corrosion resistance and hardness(2.7 GPa).Owing to the lack of an interfacial oxidized layer,heat treatment led to the successful diff usion of Mg and Al atoms,which increased the hardness to 4.4 GPa.The Ac_(2)O pretreatment of Mg alloys enables the successful Al electroplating and subsequent heat treatment.

Regularization by Noise for the Point Vortex Model of mSQG Equations

We consider the point vortex model associated to the modified Surface Quasi-Geostrophic(mSQG) equations on the two dimensional torus. It is known that this model is well posed for almost every initial conditions. We show that, when the system is perturbed by a certain space-dependent noise, it admits a unique global solution for any initial configuration. We also present an explicit example for the deterministic system on the plane where three different point vortices collapse.