Search results for "Surfaces and interfaces"
showing 10 items of 939 documents
Measurement of sulfur isotope ratios in micrometer-sized samples by NanoSIMS
2006
Abstract Sulfur isotope ratios of atmospheric aerosol particles can provide detailed information with regard to the origin and the transport of sulfur in the environment. The new Cameca NanoSIMS 50 ion microprobe technique permits analysis of individual aerosol particles with volumes down to 0.5 μm 3 and a precision for δ 34 S of 3–10‰ (2 σ ). This technique will set new standards in the analysis of isotope ratios in atmospheric aerosol. For the first time it is possible to directly compare chemical and isotopic composition of individual aerosol particles, identify internal and external mixtures and investigate reactions of anthropogenic gases with natural aerosol such as sea salt and miner…
Origin of Ubiquitous Stripes at the Graphite–Water Interface
2020
The investigation of solid-liquid interfaces is pivotal for understanding processes like wetting, corrosion, and mineral dissolution and growth. The graphite-water interface constitutes a prime example for studying the water structure at a seemingly hydrophobic surface. Surprisingly, in a large number of atomic force microscopy (AFM) experiments, well-ordered stripes have been observed at the graphite-water interface. Although many groups have reported on the observation of stripes at this interface, fundamental properties and, in particular, the origin of the stripes are still under debate. Proposed origins include contamination, interplanar stacking of graphene layers, formation of methan…
Hybrid DFT calculations of the atomic and electronic structure for ABO3 perovskite (001) surfaces
2005
Abstract We present the results of first-principles calculations on two possible terminations of the (0 0 1) surfaces of SrTiO3, BaTiO3, and PbTiO3 perovskite crystals. Atomic structure and the electronic configurations were calculated for different 2D slabs, both stoichiometric and non-stoichiometric, using hybrid (B3PW) exchange-correlation technique and re-optimized basis sets of atomic (Gaussian) orbitals. Results are compared with previous calculations and available experimental data. The electronic density distribution near the surface and covalency effects are discussed in details for all three perovskites. Both SrTiO3 and BaTiO3 (0 0 1) surfaces demonstrate reduction of the optical …
Energy Transfer between Surface-Immobilized Light-Harvesting Chlorophyll a/b Complex (LHCII) Studied by Surface Plasmon Field-Enhanced Fluorescence S…
2010
The major light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b complex (LHCII) of the photosynthetic apparatus in green plants can be viewed as a protein scaffold binding and positioning a large number of pigment molecules that combines rapid and efficient excitation energy transfer with effective protection of its pigments from photobleaching. These properties make LHCII potentially interesting as a light harvester (or a model thereof) in photoelectronic applications. Most of such applications would require the LHCII to be immobilized on a solid surface. In a previous study we showed the immobilization of recombinant LHCII on functionalized gold surfaces via a 6-histidine tag (His tag) in the protein moiety. …
Interfacial behavior of recombinant forms of human pulmonary surfactant protein SP-C.
2012
The behavior at air-liquid interfaces of two recombinant versions of human surfactant protein SP-C has been characterized in comparison with that of native palmitoylated SP-C purified from porcine lungs. Both native and recombinant proteins promoted interfacial adsorption of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers to a limited extent, but catalyzed very rapid formation of films from different lipid mixtures containing both zwitterionic and anionic phospholipids. Once at the interface, the recombinant variants exhibited compression-driven structural transitions, consistent with changes in the orientation of the deacylated N-terminal segment, which were not observed in the native protein. Com…
Delivery modulation in silica mesoporous supports via alkyl chain pore outlet decoration
2012
This article focuses on the study of the release rate in a family of modified silica mesoporous supports. A collection of solids containing ethyl, butyl, hexyl, octyl, decyl, octadecyl, docosyl, and triacontyl groups anchored on the pore outlets of mesoporous MCM-41 has been prepared and characterized. Controlled release from pore voids has been studied through the delivery of the dye complex tris(2,2¿-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II). Delivery rates were found to be dependent on the alkyl chain length anchored on the pore outlets of the mesoporous scaffolding. Moreover, release rates follow a Higuchi diffusion model, and Higuchi constants for the different hybrid solids have been calculated. A decr…
Dynamical Properties of Self-Assembled Surfactant-Based Mixtures: Triggering of One-Dimensional Anomalous Diffusion in Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric Ac…
2013
The dynamic features of bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP)/n-octylamine (NOA) mixtures have been investigated as a function of the NOA mole fraction and temperature by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and rheometry. All data consistently suggest a composition-induced glass-forming behavior. The microscopic factors responsible for this behavior have been highlighted and have been explained in terms of driving forces given by HDEHP-to-NOA proton transfer, the tendency of the resulting species to establish H bonds and to spatially segregate the alkyl chains. The study sheds light on the molecular mechanism responsible for the peculiar behavior of transport properties in such systems and furnishes b…
Demixing of Mixed Micelles. Thermodynamics of Sodium Perfluorooctanoate−Sodium Dodecanoate Mixtures in Water
1997
Conductivity, density, heat capacity, enthalpy of dilution, and osmotic coefficient measurements of water−sodium perfluorooctanoate (NaPFO)−sodium dodecanoate systems were carried out as functions of the surfactants' total molality (mt) at different mole fractions (XNaPFO). From conductivity data, the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and the degree of ionization (β) of the micelles were derived. The cmc's of the micelles are higher than those of the pure surfactants while β depends linearly on XNaPFO. At a given mole fraction, the apparent molar volume (VΦ) and heat capacity (CΦ) of the mixture increases and decreases monotonically with mt, respectively. From data in the premicellar reg…
Molecular Association of a Nonionic and an Ionic-Induced Surfactant: Cryptand (221D) NaCl in Water
2003
The cryptand 5-decyl-4,7,13,16,21-pentaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo-[8.8.5] tricosane [221D] strongly resembles a surfactant in its characteristics: it contains a hydrophilic headgroup, the cryptand unit, and a hydrophobic unit, the decyl chain. It is insoluble in water, but in the presence of an appropriate amount of NaCl, as a consequence of the complex formation between 221D and Na+, it becomes soluble and forms aggregates. The aggregates, depending on the NaCl-221D molar ratio, can be considered as mixed ionic nonionic micelles or ionic micelles. The evolution of the aggregate dimensions and their shape has already been studied at two NaCl-221D molar ratios as a function of the 221D concentra…
Thermodynamics of Micellization of Sodium Alkyl Sulfates in Water at High Temperature and Pressure
2001
Apparent molar volumes VΦ,S were determined for sodium octyl, decyl, and dodecyl sulfates in water at 2 and 19 MPa from 25 to 130 °C. The shapes of VΦ,S vs the surfactant concentration curves depend on the surfactant alkyl chain, temperature and pressure. The standard partial molar volumes were calculated from data in the premicellar region whereas the partial molar volumes of the surfactant in the micellar phase were obtained from data in the postmicellar region. The partial molar expansibility and compressibility were evaluated from the dependence of the partial molar volume on temperature and pressure, respectively. Attention was focused to the expansibility and its pressure coefficient …