Synthesis of Nanostructured Hybrid Sorbent Materials Using Organosilane Self-Assembly on Mesoporous Ceramic Oxides

Author(s):  
Glen E Fryxell
2009 ◽  
Vol 60 (8) ◽  
pp. 687-690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Galina Telysheva ◽  
Tatiana Dizhbite ◽  
Dmitry Evtuguin ◽  
Nina Mironova-Ulmane ◽  
Galina Lebedeva ◽  
...  

Nanomaterials ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Bessa ◽  
Gil Gonçalves ◽  
Bruno Henriques ◽  
Eddy M. Domingues ◽  
Eduarda Pereira ◽  
...  

The development of new graphene-based nanocomposites able to provide synergistic effects for the adsorption of toxic heavy metals in realistic conditions (environment) is of higher demand for future applications. This work explores the preparation of a green nanocomposite based on the self-assembly of graphene oxide (GO) with chitosan (CH) for the remediation of Hg(II) in different water matrices, including ultrapure and natural waters (tap water, river water, and seawater). Starting at a concentration of 50 μg L–1, the results showed that GO–CH nanocomposite has an excellent adsorption capacity of Hg (II) using very small doses (10 mg L–1) in ultrapure water with a removal percentage (% R) of 97 % R after only two hours of contact time. In the case of tap water, the % R was 81.4% after four hours of contact time. In the case of river and seawater, the GO–CH nanocomposite showed a limited performance due the high complexity of the water matrices, leading to a residual removal of Hg(II). The obtained removal of Hg(II) at equilibrium in river and seawater for GO–CH was 13% R and 7% R, respectively. Our studies conducted with different mimicked sea waters revealed that the removal of mercury is not affected by the presence of NO3– and Na+ (>90% R of Hg(II)); however, in the presence of Cl–, the mercury removal was virtually nonexistent (1% R of Hg(II)), most likely because of the formation of very stable chloro-complexes of Hg(II) with less affinity towards GO–CH.


Author(s):  
D. Reis ◽  
B. Vian ◽  
J. C. Roland

Wall morphogenesis in higher plants is a problem still open to controversy. Until now the possibility of a transmembrane control and the involvement of microtubules were mostly envisaged. Self-assembly processes have been observed in the case of walls of Chlamydomonas and bacteria. Spontaneous gelling interactions between xanthan and galactomannan from Ceratonia have been analyzed very recently. The present work provides indications that some processes of spontaneous aggregation could occur in higher plants during the formation and expansion of cell wall.Observations were performed on hypocotyl of mung bean (Phaseolus aureus) for which growth characteristics and wall composition have been previously defined.In situ, the walls of actively growing cells (primary walls) show an ordered three-dimensional organization (fig. 1). The wall is typically polylamellate with multifibrillar layers alternately transverse and longitudinal. Between these layers intermediate strata exist in which the orientation of microfibrils progressively rotates. Thus a progressive change in the morphogenetic activity occurs.


Author(s):  
M. Kessel ◽  
R. MacColl

The major protein of the blue-green algae is the biliprotein, C-phycocyanin (Amax = 620 nm), which is presumed to exist in the cell in the form of distinct aggregates called phycobilisomes. The self-assembly of C-phycocyanin from monomer to hexamer has been extensively studied, but the proposed next step in the assembly of a phycobilisome, the formation of 19s subunits, is completely unknown. We have used electron microscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation in combination with a method for rapid and gentle extraction of phycocyanin to study its subunit structure and assembly.To establish the existence of phycobilisomes, cells of P. boryanum in the log phase of growth, growing at a light intensity of 200 foot candles, were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde in 0.1M cacodylate buffer, pH 7.0, for 3 hours at 4°C. The cells were post-fixed in 1% OsO4 in the same buffer overnight. Material was stained for 1 hour in uranyl acetate (1%), dehydrated and embedded in araldite and examined in thin sections.


Author(s):  
Alan S. Rudolph ◽  
Ronald R. Price

We have employed cryoelectron microscopy to visualize events that occur during the freeze-drying of artificial membranes by employing real time video capture techniques. Artificial membranes or liposomes which are spherical structures within internal aqueous space are stabilized by water which provides the driving force for spontaneous self-assembly of these structures. Previous assays of damage to these structures which are induced by freeze drying reveal that the two principal deleterious events that occur are 1) fusion of liposomes and 2) leakage of contents trapped within the liposome [1]. In the past the only way to access these events was to examine the liposomes following the dehydration event. This technique allows the event to be monitored in real time as the liposomes destabilize and as water is sublimed at cryo temperatures in the vacuum of the microscope. The method by which liposomes are compromised by freeze-drying are largely unknown. This technique has shown that cryo-protectants such as glycerol and carbohydrates are able to maintain liposomal structure throughout the drying process.


Author(s):  
M. Sarikaya ◽  
J. T. Staley ◽  
I. A. Aksay

Biomimetics is an area of research in which the analysis of structures and functions of natural materials provide a source of inspiration for design and processing concepts for novel synthetic materials. Through biomimetics, it may be possible to establish structural control on a continuous length scale, resulting in superior structures able to withstand the requirements placed upon advanced materials. It is well recognized that biological systems efficiently produce complex and hierarchical structures on the molecular, micrometer, and macro scales with unique properties, and with greater structural control than is possible with synthetic materials. The dynamism of these systems allows the collection and transport of constituents; the nucleation, configuration, and growth of new structures by self-assembly; and the repair and replacement of old and damaged components. These materials include all-organic components such as spider webs and insect cuticles (Fig. 1); inorganic-organic composites, such as seashells (Fig. 2) and bones; all-ceramic composites, such as sea urchin teeth, spines, and other skeletal units (Fig. 3); and inorganic ultrafine magnetic and semiconducting particles produced by bacteria and algae, respectively (Fig. 4).


Author(s):  
Xiaorong Zhu ◽  
Richard McVeigh ◽  
Bijan K. Ghosh

A mutant of Bacillus licheniformis 749/C, NM 105 exhibits some notable properties, e.g., arrest of alkaline phosphatase secretion and overexpression and hypersecretion of RS protein. Although RS is known to be widely distributed in many microbes, it is rarely found, with a few exceptions, in laboratory cultures of microorganisms. RS protein is a structural protein and has the unusual properties to form aggregate. This characteristic may have been responsible for the self assembly of RS into regular tetragonal structures. Another uncommon characteristic of RS is that enhanced synthesis and secretion which occurs when the cells cease to grow. Assembled RS protein with a tetragonal structure is not seen inside cells at any stage of cell growth including cells in the stationary phase of growth. Gel electrophoresis of the culture supernatant shows a very large amount of RS protein in the stationary culture of the B. licheniformis. It seems, Therefore, that the RS protein is cotranslationally secreted and self assembled on the envelope surface.


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