Influence of solvents on the formation of ultrathin uniform poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) nanofibers with electrospinning

Although there have been many reports on the preparation and applications of various polymer nanofibers with the electrospinning technique, the understanding of synthetic parameters in electrospinning remains limited. In this article, we investigate experimentally the influence of solvents on the morphology of the poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) micro/nanofibers prepared by electrospinning PVP solution in different solvents, including ethanol, dichloromethane (MC) and N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF). Using 4 wt % PVP solutions, the PVP fibers prepared from MC and DMF solvents had a shape like a bead‐on‐a‐string. In contrast, smooth PVP nanofibers were obtained with ethanol as a solvent although the size distribution of the fibers was somewhat broadened. In an effort to prepare PVP nanofibers with small diameters and narrow size distributions, we developed a strategy of using mixed solvents. The experimental results showed that when the ratio of DMF to ethanol was 50:50 (w/w), regular cylindrical PVP nanofibers with a diameter of 20 nm were successfully prepared. The formation of these thinnest nanofibers could be attributed to the combined effects of ethanol and DMF solvents that optimize the solution viscosity and charge density of the polymer jet. In addition, an interesting helical‐shaped fiber was obtained from 20 wt % PVP solution in a 50:50 (w/w) mixed ethanol/DMF solvent. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3721–3726, 2004     

INVERSE EIGENVALUE PROBLEM OF HERMITIAN GENERALIZED ANTI-HAMILTONIAN MATRICES

§1　IntroductionWe considerthe following inverse eigenvalue problem offinding an n-by-n matrix A∈S such thatAxi =λixi,i =1,2 ,...,m,where S is a given set of n-by-n matrices,x1 ,...,xm(m≤n) are given n-vectors andλ1 ,...,λmare given constants.Let X=(x1 ,...,xm) ,Λ=(λ1 ,λ2 ,...,λm) ,then the above inverse eigenvalue problemcan be written as followsProblem Given X∈Cn×m,Λ=(λ1 ,...,λm) ,find A∈S such thatAX =XΛ,where S is a given matrix set.We also discuss the so-called opti…     

Influence of demulsifiers of different structures on interfacial dilational properties of an oil-water interface containing surface-active fractions from crude oil

The influences of two commercial demulsifiers that have a straight chain and branch chain, respectively, on the dilational viscoelasticity of an oil-water interfacial film containing surface-active fractions from crude oil were investigated. The branch-chain demulsifier AE-121 could efficiently substitute surface-active fractions of different average molecular weights from the oil-water interface, while straight-chain SP-169 could only efficiently substitute those of large average molecular weight. It was apt to form a mix-adsorption layer with surface-active fractions of small average molecular weight. The results showed that the molecular size (or represented by average molecular weights) of the surface-active fractions was an important factor influencing the reciprocity of demulsifiers and surface-active fractions at the oil-water interface. This effect could be well explained by the difference between sizes of surface-active fraction molecules and vacancies between demulsifier molecules at the interface. The results of SDBS also proved this explanation.     

Visual and spectrophotometric detection of metformin based on the host-guest molecular recognition of cucurbit[6]uril-modified silver nanoparticles

Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry - A simple, sensitive, and naked-eye assay of metformin (MET), based on the host–guest molecular recognition of cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6])-modified silver...     

Untargeted metabolomic study on the insomnia effect of Suan‐Zao‐Ren decoction in the rat serum and brain using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry combined with data processing analysis

Insomnia is a common clinical disease that can seriously damage the normal lives of sufferers. Suan‐Zao‐Ren decoction has been used to treat insomnia for a long time. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of Suan‐Zao‐Ren decoction is still not clear. In this study, the nontargeted metabolomics based on high‐resolution mass spectrometry and multiple statistical approaches were initially used to investigate the changes of potential serum and brain biomarkers and metabolic pathways in the insomnia model rat. Principal component analysis‐discriminate analysis indicated that the Suan‐Zao‐Ren decoction treatment improved the metabolic phenotype insomnia. Moreover, the heatmap analysis identified the most important biomarkers involved in insomnia. According to the pathway analysis, phenylalanine metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and so on were recognized as the most affected metabolic pathways associated with insomnia disease. These findings provided a comprehensive understanding of the regulative effects of Suan‐Zao‐Ren decoction on the host metabolic phenotype of the insomnia rats. Our work demonstrated that the metabolomics approach is a promising tool that could help us to conduct the exploration of the therapeutic effects and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicines.     

Chemical composition of PM_(2.5) during winter in Tianjin,China

PM2.5 samples for 24 h were collected during winter in Tianjin,China. The ambient mass concentration and chemical composition of the PM2.5 were determined. Ionic species were analyzed by ion chromatog-raphy,while carbonaceous species were determined with the IMPROVE thermal optical reectance(TOR) method,and inorganic elements were measured by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spec-trometer. The daily PM2.5 mass concentrations ranged from 48.2 to 319.2 g/m3 with an arithmetic average of 144.6 g/m3. ...     

Heating-induced micelle to vesicle transition in the cationic-anionic surfactant systems: Comprehensive study and understanding

Heating-induced micelle to vesicle transition (MVT), which has been rarely reported in surfactant systems, was systemically studied in a number of mixed cationic-anionic surfactant systems. According to the turbidity measurements, the investigated systems can be divided into two classes: Class A and B. Heating-induced MVT was observed in Class A at certain total surfactant concentrations and mixed surfactant ratios, while no such transition was found in Class B. Further investigations revealed that the heating-induced MVT is more likely to take place in the cationic-anionic surfactant systems with relatively stronger molecule interaction and larger micelle aggregation number. The effects of several physicochemical factors, such as the variation of mixed surfactant ratios and the addition of n-decanol on the heating-induced MVT, were also studied.     

Comparison of RP, Ion-Pair and IE Chromatography Coupled with UV and Tandem Mass Spectrometry for the Determination of 8-Hydroxyquinoline in Cosmetics

Liquid chromatographic methods based on reversed-phase, ion-pair and ion-exchange chromatography coupled with ultraviolet spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry have been developed and compared for the determination of 8-hydroxyquinoline in cosmetic samples. The individual parameters of different techniques are systematically optimized. The reversed-phase chromatography using ultrasonic extraction, centrifugation and filtration prior to LC–UV and LC–MS–MS detection was selected to be the general analytical method for the routine analysis of 8-hydroxyquinoline in cosmetics due to its simplicity, column reproducibility and sensitivity. The procedure is rapid, simple and suitable for the quality control of cosmetic preparations. The application of this technique to the assay of commercial products is also presented.