A. K. Khripunov

Deep desalination of water by evaporation through polymeric membranes

Transport properties and structural features of a number of already known and new types of polymeric membranes in desalination of aqueous salt solutions by membrane distillation and pervaporation were studied. The possibility of obtaining distilled water in a single stage by pervaporation from dilute or concentrated aqueous salt solutions was examined for the example of membranes fabricated from celluloses of varied origin (wood, cotton, bacterial).

Structure of cellulose Acetobacter xylinum

The data are presented on optimization of cellulose synthesis by Acetobacter xylinum (strain VKM V-880) and the structural characteristics of A. xylinum cellulose gel film synthesized during static cultivation. The structural changes caused by the removal of water from gel films are established and the structural organization of macromolecular chains in cellulose A. xylinum is studied.

High-strength biocompatible hydrogels based on poly(acrylamide) and cellulose: Synthesis, mechanical properties and perspectives for use as artificial cartilage

New composite hydrogels based on cellulose and poly(acrylamide) have been synthesized via radical polymerization of acrylamide in cellulose swollen in a reaction solution. In this study, both a plant form of cellulose and a bacterial form—that cultivated by Acetobacter xylinum bacteria—were used. The behavior of synthesized hydrogels during swelling in water, as well as the behavior of the samples swollen at equilibrium during deformation under uniaxial compression under various test conditions, have been studied. A comparative analysis of the main mechanical characteristics of hydrogels and the appropriate data for various types of articular cartilage, one of which—rabbit knee meniscus—has been tested in this study, has been performed. An average-strength hydrogel is very close to articular cartilage in all mechanical characteristics. The degrees of loading at the highest compression deformations observed during the function of joint cartilage (30–50%) is in the range 4–12 MPa for this hydrogel, and the average values of the compression modulus in the deformation ranges of 10–15 and 25–30% are 8.8 and 23.7 MPa, respectively. The behavior of hydrogels and rabbit meniscus under cyclic compression with the amplitude of 50% has been studied. Hydrogels and meniscus under this test conditions demonstrate clear viscoelastic behavior, evidenced by noticeable hysteresis for the first cycle and a decrease in the value of the maximum load with an increase in the number of cycles. Structural features of hydrogels, which can affect the behavior of the hydrogels under study, have been considered. On the whole, the results demonstrate the possibility of modeling the mechanical behavior of cartilage with the use of hydrogels of this type.

Formation of organic-inorganic composite materials based on cellulose Acetobacter xylinum and calcium phosphates for medical applications

The formation of composites based on the cellulose Acetobacter xylinum and calcium phosphates has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, electron microscopy, energy-dispersive analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. It has been demonstrated that the planar morphology of calcium phosphate nanoparticles capable of interacting with nanofibrils of the cellulose matrix is an important factor providing interfacial contacts in the formation of organic-inorganic composite materials. It has been established that magnesium-containing calcium phosphates represent two-phase systems consisting of calcium magnesium phosphate Ca2.6Mg0.4(PO4)2 (whitlockite) and hydroxyapatite Ca5(PO4)3(OH). The biocompatibility of the composite materials based on two-phase calcium phosphate systems and the temperature range of their stability (∼20–250°C) determined by the thermal stability of the organic component have been investigated.

Formation of a composite from Se0 nanoparticles stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone and Acetobacter xylinum cellulose gel films

Formation of a composite from Se0 nanoparticles stabilized with polyvinylpyrrolidone and Acetobacter xylinum cellulose gel films was studied. The optimal sorption parameters at which the amorphous form of the selenium complex is preserved in the composite were suggested.

Network Model of Acetobacter Xylinum Cellulose Intercalated by Drug Nanoparticles

It was shown that Acetobacter xylinum cellulose gel-films can sorb silver and selenium nanoparticles stabilized by N-poly(vinyl-2-pirrolidone). The structure of original cellulose matrix, isolated nanoparticles and cellulose with sorbed nanoparticles was characterized by electron diffraction, electron microscopy, small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering methods, and atomic force microscopy. It was found that in static culture Acetobacter xylinum bacterium (strain VKM B-880) may synthesize high-molecular cellulose with narrow molecular weight distribution and a considerable number of carbon sources. The structures of cellulose microfibrilles and ribbons correspond mainly to polymorphous Iβ modification. We concluded from structural studies that textured cellulose films were formed. The sorption conditions of poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Se° and poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Ag° nanoparticles were optimized to obtain a cellulose template that can be used in medical practice.

Investigation of nanocomposites based on hydrated calcium phosphates and cellulose Acetobacter xylinum

Composites based on two biocompatible compounds, namely, inorganic hydrated calcium phosphates and organic microfibrillar ribbons of cellulose Acetobacter xylinum, are prepared by aggregation in an aqueous suspension. The influence of the structural organization of the hydroxyapatite and temperature-time conditions on the formation of the composite materials of different compositions is investigated. It is revealed that the composite materials are textured and retain the crystal structure of cellulose and the structure of initial hydrated calcium phosphates. The analysis of the crystal structures allows us to propose a model of the interaction between the mineral and organic components of the composite material. In the framework of the model, the interaction is provided through the formation of hydrogen bonds with the participation of hydroxyl groups and oxygen atoms of the phosphor group of the hydroxyapatite and primary OH groups located at the (−110) and (110) faces of cellulose nanocrystals.

Interaction of Se0 nanoparticles stabilized by poly(vinylpyrrolidone) with gel films of cellulose Acetobacter xylinum

The sorption and desorption of poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Se0 (PVP-Se0) nanoparticles on gel films of cellulose Acetobacter xylinum (CAX) are investigated. It is revealed that the hydrodynamic radius Rh of PVP-Se0 nanoparticles decreases from 57 nm in the initial solution (without CAX gel films) to 25 nm after the sorption of nanostructures on gel films and then increases to approximately 100 nm after the desorption of nanoparticles with water from dry samples of the CAX gel film-PVP-Se0 nanocomposite. It is found that selenium atoms do not penetrate into crystallites of the cellulose nanofibrils and replace water molecules sorbed by the primary hydroxyl groups of their walls. Poly(vinylpyrrolidone)-Se0 nanoclusters differ in the number and size upon their sorption inside the cellulose gel film and on the film surface.

Interaction between nanosized crystalline components of a composite based on Acetobacter xylinum cellulose and calcium phosphates

A composite consisting of two nanosized biocompatible components, Acetobacter xylinum cellulose and calcium phosphate, is prepared through aggregation in an aqueous suspension. The structures of initial components and composite are investigated by the methods of X-ray and electron diffraction and electron microscopy. The mineral component consists of two crystalline phases, hydroxyapatite and whitlockite (magnesium-containing tricalcium phosphate), which are nanosized platelike crystals. The composite preserves the crystalline structures of initial calcium phosphates and cellulose. In the course of composite formation, hydroxyapatite and whitlockite crystallites are adsorbed on the surfaces of nanofibrillar cellulose ribbons. Whitlockite nanocrystals are predominantly deposited on the surface of cellulose ribbons. The mutual orientation of the surfaces of crystalline structures of cellulose and two types of calcium phosphates, hydroxyapatite and whitlockite, is analyzed by means of computer simulation, and the variants of mutual arrangement of their surfaces during formation of the interfacial boundary are suggested.

Dielectric Properties and Dipole Glass Transition in Cellulose Acetobacter Xylinium

The dielectric and conductive properties of the bacterial-cellulose (cellulose I) films consisting of the nano-crystalline polar and amorphous regions were studied in frequency range 100 Hz-1 MHz and temperature interval 100-440 K. The anomalous behavior of dielectric permittivity and conductivity observed at high temperatures is explained by the peculiarities of sorption and desorption of water in cellulose. Below T m , 320 K the cellulose films sorbs water while above this temperature intensive desorption occurs. Below room temperature well defined non-Debay relaxation was found which is expected to occur due to the freezing of mobile dipole fragments of cellulose chains in an amorphous phase. The common features of the relaxation mechanisms in the cellulose and ferroelectric polymers are discussed.