Daniela Karashanova

Photocatalytic self-cleaning poly(L-lactide) materials based on a hybrid between nanosized zinc oxide and expanded graphite or fullerene.

New self-cleaning materials of polymer fibers decorated with a hybrid between nanosized zinc oxide and expanded graphite (EG) or fullerene (C60) were obtained. The new materials were prepared by applying electrospinning in conjunction with electrospraying. Poly(l-lactide) (PLA) was selected as a biocompatible and (bio)degradable polymer carrier. PLA solution was electrospun in combination with electrospraying of a suspension that contained the ZnO/EG or ZnO/C60 hybrid. Mats with different content of EG or C60 were obtained. The new materials were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The photocatalytic activity of the materials was evaluated by using model dyes. The formation of a hybrid between ZnO and EG led to enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of the mats at ZnO/EG weight ratios of 90/10 and 85/15. Increase in the photocatalytic activity of the ZnO-containing mats was also achieved by the formation of a hybrid between ZnO and C60 at a fullerene content of 0.5 and 1.0 wt.% in respect to ZnO weight. The new materials exhibited antibacterial activity as evidenced by the performed studies against Staphylococcus aureus.

Increase of photoinduced birefringence in a new type of anisotropic nanocomposite: azopolymer doped with ZnO nanoparticles

We report a significant increase of about 50% of the photoinduced birefringence in nanocomposite films of azopolymers doped with ZnO nanoparticles compared with samples made from nondoped azopolymers. This increase is most pronounced at small concentrations of the nanoparticles of 0.5% and for the amorphous polymers used in our study. We observe also an improvement of the response time of more than 25% in some of the polymers, which allows for faster and more effective polarization optical recording.

Novel antibacterial electrospun materials based on polyelectrolyte complexes of a quaternized chitosan derivative

Novel nanofibrous materials composed of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) between N,N,N-trimethylchitosan iodide (TMCh) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) or poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS) were prepared. This was achieved by facile one-pot electrospinning of solutions of the oppositely charged polyelectrolyte partners. It was rendered possible by using a solvent system containing formic acid and/or by adding a strongly ionized low-molecular-weight salt (CaCl2). Use of formic acid enabled TMCh/PAA nanofibers containing in situ synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) to be electrospun. The AgNPs had an average diameter of 3.0 ± 0.8 nm and were uniformly distributed in the nanofibers as evidenced by the performed transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analyses. The prepared nanofibers preserved their morphology and did not dissolve in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Hybrid AgNPs-containing PEC nanofibrous materials showed good antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and possessed higher efficacy than that of the nanofibers of the same composition without AgNPs and TMCh.

Self-Assembly of a Thermally Responsive Double-Hydrophilic Copolymer in Ethanol-Water Mixtures: The Effect of Preferential Adsorption and Co-Nonsolvency

Lower alcohols can induce a combined collapse-swelling de-mixing transition (lower critical solution temperature (LCST)-type co-nonsolvency) in aqueous solutions of poly( N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) by interacting with the polymers amide groups. This interaction results in an increase of the total surface area of hydrophobic sites and destabilizes the chains. Here, we make use of this phenomenon to drive the counterintuitive self-assembly of a PNIPAM-containing double-hydrophilic graft copolymer in water-ethanol mixtures at T ≪ LCST. Rheological frequency sweeps are used to quantify the distinct solvation states of PNIPAM at various temperatures and ethanol concentrations. The energy stored through elastic deformation at the de-mixing transition is simply related to the solvent binding. We find that the storage modulus decreases progressively, but nonlinearly with ethanol concentration, which evidences a preferential solvation pattern. Analogously, through a combination of dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscope analyses, we demonstrate that a low-temperature structure variation takes place by adding ethanol following a similar solvent-content morphology dependent model.

Synthesis and Properties of Magnetic Iron Oxide/Platinum Nanocomposites

Iron oxide/platinum nanocomposites have been synthesized by the extractive-pyrolytic method (EPM) involving gradual decomposition of iron capronate and n-trioctylammonium hexachloroplatinate initially produced by solvent extraction. The content of platinum in the composites was 1.2 wt%, 2.4 wt% and 4.8 wt%. Phase composition, morphology and magnetic properties of the produced materials were investigated. XRD analysis and magnetic measurements show that the magnetic phase (magnetite Fe3O4) dominates in a carrier sample produced by the pyrolysis of iron carboxylate, but hematite α-Fe2O3 exists there as an admixture. Referring to the TEM results, the produced composites contain ultra-disperse platinum particles on the carrier, and the mean size of these varies from 3 nm to 9 nm.