Properties of poly(acrylic acid)/modified starch compositions applied as a new polymeric binders

Zbadano stabilność wybranych właściwości fizykochemicznych nowych, ekologicznych spoiw polimerowych w postaci wodorozcieńczalnych kompozycji poli(kwas akrylowy)/sól sodowa karboksymetyloskrobi (PAA/CMS-Na). Wodną kompozycję PAA/CMS-Na przechowywano w zamkniętych naczyniach w temp. 10 °C. Podczas trzymiesięcznego przechowywania badano zmiany zabarwienia, lepkości, kąta zwilżania szkła kwarcowego, struktury oraz rozkładu wymiarów cząstek spoiwa i na tej podstawie dokonano wstępnej oceny stabilności kompozycji. Sporządzono i utwardzono masy formierskie z udziałem wodnej kompozycji PAA/CMS-Na i określono ich wytrzymałość na zginanie. Stwierdzono, że w założonym czasie przechowywania, w warunkach zbliżonych do panujących w odlewni, nowe spoiwo nie traci właściwości wiążących ziarna piasku osnowy w masie formierskiej.The selected physicochemical properties of water-thinnable poly(acrylic acid)/sodiumsalt of carboxymethyl starch (PAA/CMS-Na) compositions — new environmentally friendly polymer binding agents — were investigated as a function of time. The aqueous composition PAA/CMS-Na was stored in closed vessels in a cooling chamber at 10 °C. During the three-month storage period the changes of coloration, viscosity, wetting angle on quartz glass, structure and size distribution of the binding agent particles were studied. On this basis, the stability of the binder properties was preliminarily evaluated. Additionally, the moulding sands containing an aqueous composition PAA/CMS-Naas a binder (stored for a week or three months) were prepared, hardened and subjected to the bending strength tests. It was found, that after three months of storage under conditions resembling those found in a foundry the new binder did not lose its properties as a binding agent for the moulding sand

Polymeric carriers for delivery systems in biomedical applications—In memory of Professor Andrzej Dworak

© 2023 The Authors. Published by MDPI. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15081810Published onlin

Graphene transfer methods: A review

Graphene is a material with unique properties that can be exploited in electronics, catalysis, energy, and bio-related fields. Although, for maximal utilization of this material, high-quality graphene is required at both the growth process and after transfer of the graphene film to the application-compatible substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an important method for growing high-quality graphene on non-technological substrates (as, metal substrates, e.g., copper foil). Thus, there are also considerable efforts toward the efficient and non-damaging transfer of quality of graphene on to technologically relevant materials and systems. In this review article, a range of graphene current transfer techniques are reviewed from the standpoint of their impact on contamination control and structural integrity preservation of the as-produced graphene. In addition, their scalability, cost- and time-effectiveness are discussed. We summarize with a perspective on the transfer challenges, alternative options and future developments toward graphene technology

Synthesis and characterisation of PEG-peptide surfaces for proteolytic enzyme detection

Peptide surfaces were obtained by the covalent immobilisation of fluorescently labelled pentapeptides carboxyfluorescein–glycine–arginine–methionine–leucine–glycine, either directly or through a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) linker on modified silicon wafers. Each step during the preparation of the peptide surfaces was confirmed by several surface characterisation techniques. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to determine the surface composition, the wafers philicity was measured by contact angle and atomic force microscopy was used to investigate the surface morphology. Exposure of the peptide surfaces to trypsin resulted in the release of a fluorescently labelled peptide product, which allowed the kinetics of the enzymatic reaction to be followed with the aid of fluorescence spectroscopy. The electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry analysis of the post-digestion solution confirmed that the pentapeptides attached to the solid support undergo specific trypsin hydrolysis at the C-terminus of the arginine residues. Detailed surface analyses before and after the enzyme action was performed using ToF-SIMS. Because of the limited accessibility of the short peptide directly attached to the surface, a quantitative yield of enzymatic hydrolysis was observed only in case when the peptide was bound through the PEG linker. The insertion of the PEG linker increased the number of immobilised peptides and the rate of enzymatic digestion which consequently improved the quality of the enzyme assays. The described approach may be used for different peptide sequences designed for other proteases. Figure Monitoring of trypsin hydrolysis on PEG-peptide surfac

Large-Area Single-Crystal Graphene via Self-Organization at the Macroscale

In 1665 Christiaan Huygens first noticed how two pendulums, regardless of their initial state, would synchronize. It is now known that the universe is full of complex self-organizing systems, from neural networks to correlated materials. Here, graphene flakes, nucleated over a polycrystalline graphene film, synchronize during growth so as to ultimately yield a common crystal orientation at the macroscale. Strain and diffusion gradients are argued as the probable causes for the long-range cross-talk between flakes and the formation of a single-grain graphene layer. The work demonstrates that graphene synthesis can be advanced to control the nucleated crystal shape, registry, and relative alignment between graphene crystals for large area, that is, a single-crystal bilayer, and (AB-stacked) few-layer graphene can been grown at the wafer scale. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Gmb

Graphene-Like ZnO: A Mini Review

The isolation of a single layer of graphite, known today as graphene, not only demonstrated amazing new properties but also paved the way for a new class of materials often referred to as two-dimensional (2D) materials. Beyond graphene, other 2D materials include h-BN, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), silicene, and germanene, to name a few. All tend to have exciting physical and chemical properties which appear due to dimensionality effects and modulation of their band structure. A more recent member of the 2D family is graphene-like zinc oxide (g-ZnO) which also holds great promise as a future functional material. This review examines current progress in the synthesis and characterization of g-ZnO. In addition, an overview of works dealing with the properties of g-ZnO both in its pristine form and modified forms (e.g., nano-ribbon, doped material, etc.) is presented. Finally, discussions/studies on the potential applications of g-ZnO are reviewed and discussed

Crystal structure, synthesis and characterization of different chromium-based two-dimensional compounds

The field of two dimensional (2D) materials experienced a surge of discoveries after the isolation of graphene. Among these, the transition metal compounds of Molybdenum and tungsten have been the most extensively studied materials after graphene. More recently, their group member chromium has only recently come to the limelight after the discovery of its exciting magnetic properties. As such the body of work surrounding 2D chromium-based materials is growing. Here, we present an up-to-date summary of the chromium 2D materials showing the latest advances in their experimental synthesis, characterization and the applications of 2D Chromium-based compounds. Finally, we conclude with a perspective on the future of 2D chromium-based materials. We believe that this study will be helpful to understand the field of chromium-based 2D compounds

Graphene transfer methods: A review

Graphene is a material with unique properties that can be exploited in electronics, catalysis, energy, and bio-related fields. Although, for maximal utilization of this material, high-quality graphene is required at both the growth process and after transfer of the graphene film to the application-compatible substrate. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an important method for growing high-quality graphene on non-technological substrates (as, metal substrates, e.g., copper foil). Thus, there are also considerable efforts toward the efficient and non-damaging transfer of quality of graphene on to technologically relevant materials and systems. In this review article, a range of graphene current transfer techniques are reviewed from the standpoint of their impact on contamination control and structural integrity preservation of the as-produced graphene. In addition, their scalability, cost- and time-effectiveness are discussed. We summarize with a perspective on the transfer challenges, alternative options and future developments toward graphene technology.Web of Scienc

Strain regulating and kinetics accelerating of micro-sized silicon anodes via dual-size hollow graphitic carbons conductive additives

Micro-sized silicon (mu Si) anode features fewer interfacial side reactions and lower costs compared to nanosized silicon, and has higher commercial value when applied as a lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode. However, the high localized stress generated during (de)lithiation causes electrode breakdown and performance deterioration of the mu Si anode. In this work, hollow graphitic carbons with tailored dual sizes are employed as conductive additives for the mu Si anode to overcome electrode failure. The dual-size hollow graphitic carbons (HGC) additives consist of particles with micrometer size similar to the mu Si particles; these additives are used for strain regulation. Additionally, nanometer-size particles similar to commercial carbon black Spheron (SP) are used mainly for kinetics acceleration. In addition to building an efficient conductive network, the dual-size hollow graphitic carbon conductive additive prevents the fracture of the electrode by reducing local stress and alleviating volume expansion. The mu Si anode with dual-size hollow graphitic carbons as conductive additives achieves an impressive capacity of 651.4 mAh g(-1) after 500 cycles at a high current density of 2 A g(-1). These findings suggest that dual-size hollow graphitic carbons are expected to be superior conductive additives for micro-sized alloy anodes similar to mu Si.Web of Scienc