The surface of an acrylic fibre was modified with a commercial nitrilase (EC 3.5.5.1). The effect of fibre solvents and polyols on nitrilase catalysis efficiency and stability was investigated. The nitrilase action on the acrylic fabric was improved by the combined addition of 1 M sorbitol and 4% N, N-dimethylacetamide. The colour levels for samples treated with nitrilase increased 156% compari...

OBJECTIVE To investigate cross-linked hydrogels prepared via inverse emulsion polymerization to entrap poorly aqueous soluble drugs. Polyethylene glycol cross-linked acrylic polymers were synthesized and the loading and release of curcumin, a model hydrophobic drug, was investigated. METHODS Physicochemical characteristics of hydrogels were studied with (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance, Fouri...

The design of novel binder systems is required for the high capacity silicon (Si) anodes which usually undergo huge volume change during the charge/discharge cycling. Here, we introduce a poly (acrylic acid sodium)-grafted-carboxymethyl cellulose (NaPAA-g-CMC) copolymer as an excellent binder for Si anode in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). The NaPAA-g-CMC copolymer was prepared via a free radical...

A novel thermo-sensitive superabsorbent hydrogel with saltand pH-responsiveness properties was obtained by grafting of mixtures of acrylic acid (AA) and N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) monomers onto kappa-carrageenan, kC, using ammonium persulfate (APS) as a free radical initiator in the presence of methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker. Infrared spectroscopy was carried out to confirm t...

In this article, we synthesize a novel chitosan -based superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of mixtures acrylic acid (AA) and N-vinyl pyrollidon onto chitosan backbones. The polymerization reaction was carried out in an aqueous medium and in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker.The hydrogel structures wer...

The transformation of periodic microporous structures fabricated by interference lithography followed by their freezing below glass transition is described. Periodic porous microstructures subjected to internal compressive stresses can undergo sudden structural transformation at a critical strain. The pattern transformation of collapsed pores is caused by the stresses originated during the poly...

The thermally induced volume phase transition process of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (PNIPAM-co-AA) hydrogel is studied using FT-IR spectroscopy in combination with the perturbation correlation moving window (PCMW) technique and two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy (2Dcos) analysis. According to PCMW spectra analysis, an elevation of volume phase transition temperature (VPTT...

In this work, hydrogel nanocomposites were synthesized by solution polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and itaconic acid (IA) in the presence of cotton fabric. Ammonium persulfate (APS) was used as the polymerization initiator in the presence of a crosslinker, methylene bisacrylamide (MBA). Insertion of Ag followed by reduction of Ag+ cations results in a hydrogel nanocomposite. The ...