Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Effects of (complementary) polyelectrolytes characteristics on composite calcium carbonate microparticles properties
    (Bucureşti : [Verlag nicht ermittelbar], 2017) Mic, Cristian Barbu; Mihai, Marcela; Varganici, Cristian Dragos; Schwarz, Simona; Scutaru, Dan; Simionescu, Bogdan C.
    This study follows the possibility to tune the thermal stability of some CaCO3/polymer composites by crystal growth from supersaturated solutions controlled by polymer structure or by using nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complexes (NPECs). As the ratio between the organic and inorganic parts in the composites controls the Ca2+/polymer network crosslinking density, the CaCO3/polymer weight ratio was kept constant at 50/1, varying the initial concentration of the polyanions solutions (0.05 or 0.06 wt.%), the NPECs molar ratio , n+/n- (0.2 or 0.4), or the inorganic precursors concentration (0.25 or 0.3 M). Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid-co-acrylic acid) (PSA) and chondroitin-4-sulfate (CSA) were used as polyanions. Some NPEC dispersions, prepared with the same polyanions and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH), were also used for calcium carbonate crystallization. The characteristics of the prepared composites were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), flow particle image analysis (FPIA), particles charge density (CD), zeta-potential (ZP). The thermal stability of the composite particles was investigated as compared to bare CaCO3 microparticles prepared at the same initial inorganic concentrations.
  • Item
    Complex calcium carbonate/polymer microparticles as carriers for aminoglycoside antibiotics
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2018) Racovita, Stefania; Vasiliu, Ana-Lavinia; Bele, Adrian; Schwarz, Dana; Steinbach, Christine; Boldt, Regine; Schwarz, Simona; Mihai, Marcela
    Composite microparticles of CaCO3 and two pectin samples (which differ by the functional group ratio) or corresponding nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complexes with different molar ratios (0.5, 0.9 and 1.2) are obtained, characterized and tested for loading and release of streptomycin and kanamycin sulphate. The synthesized carriers were characterized before and after drug loading in terms of morphology (by SEM using secondary electron and energy selective backscattered electron detectors), porosity (by water sorption isotherms) and elemental composition (by elemental mapping using energy dispersive X-ray and FTIR spectroscopy). The kinetics of the release mechanism from the microparticles was investigated using Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas mathematical models.
  • Item
    Sand/Polyethyleneimine Composites with Enhanced Sorption/Desorption Properties toward Pollutants
    (Basel : MDPI, 2022) Bucatariu, Florin; Petrila, Larisa-Maria; Zaharia, Marius-Mihai; Simon, Frank; Mihai, Marcela
    The direct deposition of polyethyleneimine (PEI), a weak polycation with a large content of amino groups, onto sand fractions with different sizes (F70, F100, F200, and F355), resulted in versatile core-shell sorbents for water cleaning. Herein, PEI and the weak polyanion poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were directly precipitated as an nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex ([PEI]:[PAA] = 2:1) onto a sand surface followed by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde (GA) at three molar ratios ([CHO]:[amine] = 1:10; 1:5; 1:1 = r). Non-crosslinked polyelectrolyte chains were washed out in strongly basic (pH 14) and acidic (pH 0) media. The sand/PEI-GA composites were evaluated to determine the organic shell stability using swelling experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The sorbed/desorbed amount of two model pollutants (copper ions and bromocresol green) in column experiments depended on the sand fraction size and cross-linking degree of the PEI shell. The maximum recorded values, after five loading/release cycles of pollutant species onto F70/PEI-GAr, F100/PEI-GAr, F200/PEI-GAr, and F355/PEI-GAr, were situated between the 0.7–5.5 mg Cu2+/mL column and 3.7–15 mg BCG/mL column. Sand/PEI-GAr composites could act as promising sorbents, low-cost and eco-friendly, which could be applied for water purification procedures.