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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    The interaction of chondroitin sulfate with a lipid monolayer observed by using nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy
    (Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2021) Szekeres, Gergo Peter; Krekic, Szilvia; Miller, Rebecca L.; Mero, Mark; Pagel, Kevin; Heiner, Zsuzsanna
    The first vibrational sum-frequency generation (VSFG) spectra of chondroitin sulfate (CS) interacting with dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) at air–liquid interface are reported here, collected at a laser repetition rate of 100 kHz. By studying the VSFG spectra in the regions of 1050–1450 cm−1, 2750–3180 cm−1, and 3200–3825 cm−1, it was concluded that in the presence of Ca2+ ions, the head groups together with the head-group-bound water molecules in the DPPC monolayer are strongly influenced by the interaction with CS, while the organization of the phospholipid tails remains mostly unchanged. The interactions were observed at a CS concentration below 200 nM, which exemplifies the potential of VSFG in studying biomolecular interactions at low physiological concentrations. The VSFG spectra recorded in the O–H stretching region at chiral polarization combination imply that CS molecules are organized into ordered macromolecular superstructures with a chiral secondary structure.
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    Biowaste chicken eggshell powder as a potential cure modifier for epoxy/anhydride systems: competitiveness with terpolymer-modified calcium carbonate at low loading levels
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2017) Saeb, Mohammad Reza; Ghaffari, Mehdi; Rastin, Hadi; Khonakdar, Hossein Ali; Simon, Frank; Najafi, Farhood; Goodarzi, Vahabodin; Vijayan P., Poornima; Puglia, Debora; Asl, Farzaneh Hassanpour; Formela, Krzysztof
    Biowaste chicken eggshell (ES) powder was applied as a potential cure modifier in epoxy/anhydride systems. Cure behaviour and kinetics of composites filled with very low content (0.1 wt% based on epoxy resin) of ES, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and terpolymer-modified fillers, mES and mCaCO3, were discussed comparatively. Surface analysis was performed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Cure kinetics was investigated by differential (Friedman) and integral (Ozawa and Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose) isoconversional methods using dynamic differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data. Overall, protein precursors naturally existing in the structure of pristine ES facilitated crosslinking of epoxy and hardener of anhydride with functional groups resulting from terpolymer attachment to CaCO3 particles. Accelerated/hindered cure was observed depending on the filler type and surface characteristics, as investigated via the autocatalytic/non-catalytic nature of reactions and comparison of activation energy values of four types of composites. An enhanced cure was identified for composites containing untreated ES, which could be inferred on account of the lower competitive cure of carboxyl groups in the terpolymer backbone with epoxy compared to peptide groups existing in microporous pristine ES. On the other hand, mCaCO3 revealed low values of activation energy compared to pristine CaCO3, but still of the same order as ground biowaste ES.
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    Poly(ethylene oxide)-based block copolymers with very high molecular weights for biomimetic calcium phosphate mineralization
    (London : RSC Publishing, 2015) Mai, Tobias; Boye, Susanne; Yuan, Jiayin; Völkel, Antje; Gräwert, Marlies; Günter, Christina; Lederer, Albena; Taubert, Andreas
    The present article is among the first reports on the effects of poly(ampholyte)s and poly(betaine)s on the biomimetic formation of calcium phosphate. We have synthesized a series of di- and triblock copolymers based on a non-ionic poly(ethylene oxide) block and several charged methacrylate monomers, 2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl methacrylate chloride, 2-((3-cyanopropyl)-dimethylammonium)ethyl methacrylate chloride, 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt, and [2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl]dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide. The resulting copolymers are either positively charged, ampholytic, or betaine block copolymers. All the polymers have very high molecular weights of over 106 g mol−1. All polymers are water-soluble and show a strong effect on the precipitation and dissolution of calcium phosphate. The strongest effects are observed with triblock copolymers based on a large poly(ethylene oxide) middle block (nominal Mn = 100 000 g mol−1). Surprisingly, the data show that there is a need for positive charges in the polymers to exert tight control over mineralization and dissolution, but that the exact position of the charge in the polymer is of minor importance for both calcium phosphate precipitation and dissolution.