Role of Surface Area, Primary Particle Size, and Crystal Phase on Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Dispersion Properties

Characterizing nanoparticle dispersions and understanding the effect of parameters that alter dispersion properties are important for both environmental applications and toxicity investigations. The role of particle surface area, primary particle size, and crystal phase on TiO2 nanoparticle dispersion properties is reported. Hydrodynamic size, zeta potential, and isoelectric point (IEP) of ten laboratory synthesized TiO2 samples, and one commercial Degussa TiO2 sample (P25) dispersed in different solutions were characterized. Solution ionic strength and pH affect titania dispersion properties. The effect of monovalent (NaCl) and divalent (MgCl2) inert electrolytes on dispersion properties was quantified through their contribution to ionic strength. Increasing titania particle surface area resulted in a decrease in solution pH. At fixed pH, increasing the particle surface area enhanced the collision frequency between particles and led to a higher degree of agglomeration. In addition to the synthesis method, TiO2 isoelectric point was found to be dependent on particle size. As anatase TiO2 primary particle size increased from 6 nm to 104 nm, its IEP decreased from 6.0 to 3.8 that also results in changes in dispersion zeta potential and hydrodynamic size. In contrast to particle size, TiO2 nanoparticle IEP was found to be insensitive to particle crystal structure

Molecular cloning and sequencing of a cDNA encoding 3-hydroxy -3-methylglutaryl coenzyme a synthase from hevea brasiliensis (HBK) mull arg

A 1.8 kb cDNA clone encoding 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) synthase was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from the C-serum of rubber latex from Hevea brasiliensis (H.B.K.) Mull. Arg. using an Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA encoding HMG-CoA synthase as a probe. The nucleotide sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 1,392 nucleotides which encoded a protein of 464 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 51.28 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence exhibits strong similarities with plant and mammalian HMG-CoA synthase sequences. Analysis of RNA samples from different tissues of rubber tree seedlings showed a higher mRNA level in stem and petiole than in leaves. In mature rubber trees there were higher mRNA levels in latex and petiole than in leaves. This suggests that the expression of the HMG-CoA synthase gene is higher in laticifer cells than in leaves. Genomic Southern blot analysis using the full-length cDNA as a probe indicates the presence of up to three HMG-CoA synthase genes in Hevea brasiliensis.Pluang Suwanmanee, Wallie Suvachittanont and Geoffrey B Finche