Modifying of the dielectric properties of adsorbed water in the force field of a solid surface

The results of thermodynamic and acoustoelectric studies of changes in the dielectric properties of adsorbed water under the influence of a solid surface force field are presented. It is noted that the dielectric properties of adsorbed water depend not only on the characteristic size of the system, but also on the interaction energy with the solid surface. Near the hydrophilic solid surface, the density of adsorbed water is increased and the mobility of molecules is reduced. The opposite effect occurs for hydrophobic surfaces. The frequency dependences of the dielectric properties of adsorbed water, as in the case of water in the solid and liquid phase, can be characterized using Debye relaxation theory. It is shown that a significant increase in the orientational dielectric relaxation time in adsorbed water can be explained by taking into account the energy of interfacial boundaries.

Sensing force and charge at the nanoscale with a single-molecule tether

Measuring the electrophoretic mobility of molecules is a powerful experimental approach for investigating biomolecular processes. A frequent challenge in the context of single-particle measurements is throughput, limiting the obtainable statistics....

Integrated physical enhanced recovery method for high-viscosity oil reservoirs

The physical methods of enhanced oil recovery using electromagnetic fields are studied in this paper. Purpose of the work is to study the dependence of the main quantities that determine the volume of filtered oil, including the viscosity of oil, on the parameters (temperature, intensity and frequency) of thermal and electromagnetic fields, and optimize these parameters for maximum oil recovery factor using electric fields and steam treatment of the formation.It is proposed to combine the most effective and environmentally friendly methods to increase oil production. In the developed technique, methods of converting steam energy are used to create a torque of the drilling device with simultaneous steam treatment of the bottomhole zone of the reservoir. As well as the impact of an alternating electromagnetic field on the reservoir matrix and interstratal liquid fluids to create currents, increase the mobility of molecules of liquid fluids, and, as a consequence, increase the temperature and lower the viscosity of oil, which will increase oil recovery. As a result of numerous experimental experiments carried out using the original setup in the laboratory of the branch of the Tyumen Industrial University in Nizhnevartovsk, it was shown that a decrease in viscosity is observed only when exposed to simultaneous thermal and electromagnetic fields.

Single microcolony diffusion analysis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms

The influence of the biofilm matrix on molecular diffusion is commonly hypothesized to be responsible for emergent characteristics of biofilms such as nutrient trapping, signal accumulation and antibiotic tolerance. Hence quantifying the molecular diffusion coefficient is important to determine whether there is an influence of biofilm microenvironment on the mobility of molecules. Here, we use single plane illumination microscopy fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (SPIM-FCS) to obtain 3D diffusion coefficient maps with micrometre spatial and millisecond temporal resolution of entire Pseudomonas aeruginosa microcolonies. We probed how molecular properties such as size and charge as well as biofilm properties such as microcolony size and depth influence diffusion of fluorescently labelled dextrans inside biofilms. The 2 MDa dextran showed uneven penetration and a reduction in diffusion coefficient suggesting that the biofilm acts as a molecular sieve. Its diffusion coefficient was negatively correlated with the size of the microcolony. Positively charged dextran molecules and positively charged antibiotic tobramycin preferentially partitioned into the biofilm and remained mobile inside the microcolony, albeit with a reduced diffusion coefficient. Lastly, we measured changes of diffusion upon induction of dispersal and detected an increase in diffusion coefficient inside the biofilm before any loss of biomass. Thus, the change in diffusion is a proxy to detect early stages of dispersal. Our work shows that 3D diffusion maps are very sensitive to physiological changes in biofilms, viz. dispersal. However, this study also shows that diffusion, as mediated by the biofilm matrix, does not account for the high level of antibiotic tolerance associated with biofilms.

Release of Proteins from Nanochannel Delivery Systems: A Coupled Many-Scale Simulation - Experimental Investigation

Transport and surface interactions of proteins in nanopore membranes play a key role in many processes of biomedical importance. Although the use of porous materials provides a large surface-to-volume ratio, the efficiency of the operations is often determined by transport behavior, and this is complicated by the fact that transport paths (i.e., the pores) are frequently of molecular dimensions. Under these conditions, wall effects become significant, with the mobility of molecules being affected by hydrodynamic interactions between protein molecules and the wall. Modeling of transport in pores is normally carried out at the continuum level, making use of such parameters as hindrance coefficients; these in turn are typically estimated using continuum methods applied at the level of individual diffusing particles. In this work we coupled experimental evidences to manyscale molecular simulations for the analysis of hen egg-white lysozyme adsorption/diffusion through a microfabricated silicon membrane, having pores of nanometric size in only one dimension. Our joint efforts allowed us a) to elucidate the specific mechanisms of interaction between the biopolymer and the silicon surface, and b) to derive molecular energetic and structural parameters to be employed in the formulation of a mathematical model of diffusion, thus filling the gap between the nano- and the macroscale.