Bio-Based Surfactants for Benign Cosmetic Products: Principles and Applications

Bio-based surfactants offer a unique opportunity alone as well as mixed with traditional surfactants to meet the increasing demand for benign cosmetic actives in this era of concern for toxicity of chemicals. Our overall aim is to understand interactions of typical bio-based surfactants with biosurfaces. Sugar based alkyl glucosides, sophorolipids and protein based surfactants show high surface activity and salt tolerance. Importantly, when mixed with conventional surfactants the systems exhibited synergistic interactions that are useful for reducing the dosage requirements and thus the resultant chemical foot print. The unique surface activity and biodegradability make this group of surfactants potential candidates for future cosmetic agents. The interfacial and colloidal properties of these reagents play critical role in determining their performance in many other industrial applications, such as detergency, enhanced oil recovery and water treatment. We are now exploring the next generation greener and microbial (genetically engineered) and plant-derived based surfactants which show robust emulsification properties and self-assembly behavior of systems involving oil. We also explore role of these surface active agents in the design of novel nano-systems as active drug carriers and disease diagnosis

Poly(4-vinylpyridine) as a platform for robust CO2 electroreduction

The development of efficient and robust catalysts is critical for the viability of the electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals. Herein, we discover a new class of metal-polymer electrocatalysts with incorporated mechanisms of their stabilization which is based on a poly(4-vinyl pyridine). We attribute the outstanding catalytic properties of the new hybrid material to new intrinsic mechanisms of the metal stabilization offered by the N-heteroaromatic polymer. More generally, our study offers a new simple strategy to design and prepare robust CO2 reduction electrocatalyst

A Tale of Two Spills: Novel Science and Policy Implications of an Emerging New Oil Spill Model

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil release posed the challenges of two types of spill: a familiar spill characterized by buoyant oil, fouling and killing organisms at the sea surface and eventually grounding on and damaging sensitive shoreline habitats, and a novel deepwater spill involving many unknowns. The subsurface retention of oil as finely dispersed droplets and emulsions, wellhead injection of dispersants, and deepwater retention of plumes of natural gas undergoing rapid microbial degradation were unprecedented and demanded the development of a new model for deepwater well blowouts that includes subsurface consequences. Existing governmental programs and policies had not anticipated this new theater of impacts, which thereby challenged decisionmaking on the spill response, on the assessment of natural resource damages, on the preparation for litigation to achieve compensation for public trust losses, and on restoration. Modification of laws and policies designed to protect and restore ocean resources is needed in order to accommodate oil drilling in the deep sea and other frontiers.Keywords: Ecosystem, Petroleum, Deep water horizon, Gulf of Mexico, BlowoutKeywords: Ecosystem, Petroleum, Deep water horizon, Gulf of Mexico, Blowou

Ponisseril Somasundaran: Novedosas formulaciones de espuma para descontaminación de superficies con mínima generación de aguas residuales

Descripción de esta presentación: Esta presentación fue realizada por Ponisseril Somasundaran, Universidad de Columbia. El título de la presentación es: "Novedosas formulaciones de espuma para la descontaminación de superficies con mínima generación de aguas residuales". - Descripción de los seminarios web del CIC: Cada mes, el equipo de Information Commons de COVID (junto con el Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub) reúne a un grupo de investigadores que estudian diversos aspectos de la pandemia actual, para compartir sus investigaciones y responder preguntas de nuestra comunidad. Los eventos muestran los esfuerzos continuos de los científicos en la lucha contra el COVID-19, incluyendo oportunidades de colaboración

Ponisseril Somasundaran: Novel Foam formulations for decontamination of surfaces with minimum wastewater generation

This presentation was made by Ponisseril Somasundaran, Columbia University. The presentation’s title is: “Novel Foam formulations for decontamination of surfaces with minimum wastewater generation”. Funded by NSF Engineering / Division Of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships. -- Every month, the COVID Information Commons Team (along with the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub) brings together a group of researchers studying wide-ranging aspects of the current pandemic, to share their research and answer questions from our community. The events showcase scientists' ongoing efforts in the fight against COVID-19, including opportunities for collaboration

Biocompatibility of polysebacic anhydride microparticles with chondrocytes in engineered cartilage

One of main challenges in developing clinically relevant engineered cartilage is overcoming limited nutrient diffusion due to progressive elaboration of extracellular matrix at the periphery of the construct. Macro-channels have been used to decrease the nutrient path-length; however, the channels become occluded with matrix within weeks in culture, reducing nutrient diffusion. Alternatively, microparticles can be imbedded throughout the scaffold to provide localized nutrient delivery. In this study, we evaluated biocompatibility of polysebacic anhydride (PSA) polymers and the effectiveness of PSA-based microparticles for short-term delivery of nutrients in engineered cartilage. PSA-based microparticles were biocompatible with juvenile bovine chondrocytes for concentrations up to 2mg/mL; however, cytotoxicity was observed at 20mg/mL. Cytotoxicity at high concentrations is likely due to intracellular accumulation of PSA degradation products and resulting lipotoxicity. Cytotoxicity of PSA was partially reversed in the presence of bovine serum albumin. In conclusion, the findings from this study demonstrate concentration-dependent biocompatibility of PSA-based microparticles and potential application as a nutrient delivery vehicle that can be imbedded in scaffolds for tissue engineering

Rational Design of Interfacial Properties of Ferric (Hydr)oxide Nanoparticles by Adsorption of Fatty Acids from Aqueous Solutions

Notwithstanding the great practical importance, still open are the questions how, why, and to what extent the size, morphology, and surface charge of metal (hydr)­oxide nanoparticles (NPs) affect the adsorption form, adsorption strength, surface density, and packing order of organic (bio)­molecules containing carboxylic groups. In this article, we conclusively answer these questions for a model system of ferric (hydr)­oxide NPs and demonstrate applicability of the established relationships to manipulating their hydrophobicity and dispersibility. Employing <i>in situ</i> Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and adsorption isotherm measurements, we study the interaction of 150, 38, and 9 nm hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) and ∼4 nm 2-line ferrihydrite with sodium laurate (dodecanoate) in water. We discover that, independent of morphology, an increase in size of the ferric (hydr)­oxide NPs significantly improves their adsorption capacity and affinity toward fatty acids. This effect favors the formation of bilayers, which in turn promotes dispersibility of the larger NPs in water. At the same time, the local order in self-assembled monolayer (SAM) strongly depends on the morphological compatibility of the NP facets with the geometry-driven well-packed arrangements of the hydrocarbon chains as well as on the ratio of the chemisorbed to the physically adsorbed carboxylate groups. Surprisingly, the geometrical constraints can be removed, and adsorption capacity can be increased by negatively polarizing the NPs due to promotion of the outer-sphere complexes of the fatty acid. We interpret these findings and discuss their implications for the nanotechnological applications of surface-functionalized metal (hydr)­oxide NPs