Effects of confinement on the permanent electric-dipole moment of Xe atoms in liquid Xe

Searches for permanent electric-dipole moments (EDM) of atoms provide important constraints on competing extensions to the standard model of elementary particles. Recently proposed experiment with liquid $^{129}$Xe [M.V. Romalis and M.P. Ledbetter, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{87}, 067601 (2001)] may significantly improve present limits on the EDMs. To interpret experimental data in terms of CP-violating sources, one must relate measured atomic EDM to various model interactions via electronic-structure calculations. Here we study density dependence of atomic EDMs. The analysis is carried out in the framework of the cell model of the liquid coupled with relativistic atomic-structure calculations. We find that compared to an isolated atom, the EDM of an atom of liquid Xe is suppressed by about 40%

Relaxation in glassforming liquids and amorphous solids

The field of viscousliquid and glassysolid dynamics is reviewed by a process of posing the key questions that need to be answered, and then providing the best answers available to the authors and their advisors at this time. The subject is divided into four parts, three of them dealing with behavior in different domains of temperature with respect to the glass transition temperature, Tg,and a fourth dealing with “short time processes.” The first part tackles the high temperature regime T\u3eTg, in which the system is ergodic and the evolution of the viscousliquid toward the condition at Tg is in focus. The second part deals with the regime T∼Tg, where the system is nonergodic except for very long annealing times, hence has time-dependent properties (aging and annealing). The third part discusses behavior when the system is completely frozen with respect to the primary relaxation process but in which secondary processes, particularly those responsible for “superionic” conductivity, and dopart mobility in amorphous silicon, remain active. In the fourth part we focus on the behavior of the system at the crossover between the low frequency vibrational components of the molecular motion and its high frequency relaxational components, paying particular attention to very recent developments in the short time dielectric response and the high Qmechanical response

Vibrational analysis of d-PCL(530)/siloxane based hybrids doped with two lithium salts

Published online: 22 May 2013The present study has been focused on environmentally friendly sol-gel derived electrolytes based on a di-urethane cross-linked d-PCL(530)/siloxane network (where d represents di, PCL identifies the poly(ε–caprolactone) biopolymer and 530 is the average molecular weight in g.mol-1) doped with a wide range of concentration of lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI). Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman (FT-IR and FT-Raman, respectively) spectroscopies have been applied to evaluate the extent of ionic association. Characteristic bands of the PCL(530) segments, of the urethane cross-links and of the anions have been examined to gain insight into the cation/biopolymer, cation/anion and cation/cross-link interactions. In both electrolyte systems “free” ions and contact ions have been identified. The addition of salt modifies the hydrogen-bonded array of the host matrix, causing the destruction/formation of the urethane/urethane aggregates.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Photochemical crosslinking of hyaluronic acid confined in nanoemulsions: towards nanogels with a controlled structure.

International audienceno abstrac

Thiol-ene clickable hyaluronans: From macro-to nanogels

International audienc

The journal of physical chemistry. B

Stimuli-responsive microgels with redox and luminescent resonance energy transfer (LRET) properties are reported. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels are functionalized simultaneously with two models dyes: a derivative of tris(bipyridine) ruthenium complex and cyanine 5. Both moieties are chosen as a pair of luminophores with a spectral overlap for resonance energy transfer, where the ruthenium complex acts as a donor and the cyanine an acceptor. The effect of the temperature on the efficiency of the LRET of the microgels has been investigated and compared using either photoluminescence (PL) or electrochemiluminescence (ECL) as the excitation process. In PL, the synthesized microgels exhibit resonance energy transfer regardless of the swelling degree of the microgels. The transfer efficiency is a function of the donor-acceptor distance and can be tuned either by the swell-collapse phase transition or by the dye content in the microgel network. In ECL, the microgels emit light only at the wavelength of the ruthenium complex because the resonance energy transfer does not occur. Indeed, even within the microgel matrix, the cyanine dye is oxidized at the potential required for ECL generation, which impairs its emitting properties. Thus, both excitation channels (i.e., PL and ECL) show differential behavior for the resonance energy transfer processes

Oil-in-microgel strategy for enzymatic-triggered release of hydrophobic Drugs

Polymer microgels have received considerable attention due to their great potential in the biomedical field as drug delivery systems. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan composed of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. This polymer is biodegradable, nontoxic, and can be chemically modified. In this work, a co-flow microfluidic strategy for the preparation of biodegradable HA microgels encapsulating hydrophobic drugs is presented. The approach relies on: (i) generation of a primary oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsion by the ultrasonication method, (ii) formation of a double oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion (O/W/O) using microfluidics, and (iii) cross-linking of microgels by photopolymerization of HA precursors modified with methacrylate groups (HA-MA) present in the aqueous phase of the droplets. The procedure is used for the encapsulation and controlled release of progesterone. Degradability and encapsulation/release studies in PBS buffer at 37 ºC in presence of different concentrations of hyaluronidase are performed. It is demonstrated that enzymatic degradation can be used to trigger the release of progesterone from microgels. This method provides precise control of the release system and can be applied for the encapsulation and controlled release of different types of hydrophobic drugs.Fil: Busatto, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Labie, H.. Universite de Bordeaux; FranciaFil: Lapeyre, V.. Universite de Bordeaux; FranciaFil: Auzely Velty, R.. Universite Joseph Fourier; FranciaFil: Perro, A.. Universite de Bordeaux; FranciaFil: Casis, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Luna, Julio Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Estenoz, Diana Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Desarrollo Tecnológico Para la Industria Química; ArgentinaFil: Ravaine, V.. Universite de Bordeaux; Franci