Rustem Amirov

Cloud point extraction of lanthanide(III) ions via use of Triton X-100 without and with water-soluble calixarenes as added chelating agents

The use of water-soluble calixarenes: p-sulfonato thiacalixarene (ST), tetra-sulfonatomethylated calix[4]resorcinarene (SR), calix[4]resorcinarene phosphonic acid (PhR) as chelating agents in cloud point extraction (CPE) of La(III), Gd(III) and Yb(III) ions using Triton X-100 as non-ionic surfactant is introduced. The data obtained indicate that both complexation ability and structure of calixarenes govern the extraction efficiency of lanthanides. In particular ST and SR, forming 1:1 lanthanide complexes with similar stability in aqueous media, exhibit different extractability when used as chelating agents in CPE. First synthesized PhR was found to be the most efficient chelating agent exhibiting pH-dependent selectivity within La(III), Gd(III) and Yb(III) in CPE.

Homogeneous Liquid Phase Transfer of Graphene Oxide into Epoxy Resins

The quality of polymer composite materials depends on the distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix. Due to the presence of the oxygen functional groups, graphene oxide (GO) has a strong affinity to epoxy resins, providing potential opportunity for the uniform distribution of GO sheets in the matrix. Another advantage of GO over its nonoxidized counterpart is its ability to exfoliate to single-atomic-layer sheets in water and in some organic solvents. However, these advantages of GO have not yet been fully realized due to the lack of the methods efficiently introducing GO into the epoxy resin. Here we develop a novel homogeneous liquid phase transfer method that affords uniform distribution, and fully exfoliated condition of GO in the polymer matrix. The most pronounced alteration of properties of the cured composites is registered at the 0.10%-0.15% GO content. Addition of as little as 0.10% GO leads to the increase of the Youngs modulus by 48%. Moreover, we demonstrate successful introduction of GO into the epoxy matrix containing an active diluent-modifier; this opens new venues for fabrication of improved GO-epoxy-modifier composites with a broad range of predesigned properties. The experiments done on reproducing the two literature methods, using alternative GO introduction techniques, lead to either decrease or insignificant increase of the Youngs modulus of the resulting GO-epoxy composites.

Hydration number: crucial role in nuclear magnetic relaxivity of Gd(III) chelate-based nanoparticles

Today, nanostructure-based contrast agents (CA) are emerging in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Their sensitivity is reported as greatly improved in comparison to commercially used chelate-based ones. The present work is aimed at revealing the factors governing the efficiency of longitudinal magnetic relaxivity (r1) in aqueous colloids of core-shell Gd(III)-based nanoparticles. We report for the first time on hydration number (q) of gadolinium(III) as a substantial factor in controlling r1 values of polyelectrolyte-stabilized nanoparticles built from water insoluble complexes of Gd(III). The use of specific complex structure enables to reveal the impact of the inner-sphere hydration number on both r1 values for the Gd(III)-based nanoparticles and the photophysical properties of their luminescent Tb(III) and Eu(III) counterparts. The low hydration of TTA-based Gd(III) complexes (q ≈ 1) agrees well with the poor relaxivity values (r1 = 2.82 mM−1s−1 and r2 = 3.95 mM−1s−1), while these values tend to increase substantially (r1 = 12.41 mM−1s−1, r2 = 14.36 mM−1s−1) for aqueous Gd(III)-based colloids, when macrocyclic 1,3-diketonate is applied as the ligand (q ≈ 3). The regularities obtained in this work are fundamental in understanding the efficiency of MRI probes in the fast growing field of nanoparticulate contrast agents.

Tuning the non-covalent confinement of Gd(III) complexes in silica nanoparticles for high T1-weighted MR imaging capability

The present work introduces deliberate synthesis of Gd(III)-doped silica nanoparticles with high relaxivity at magnetic field strengths below 1.5T. Modified microemulsion water-in-oil procedure was used in order to achieve superficial localization of Gd(III) complexes within 40-55nm sized silica spheres. The relaxivities of the prepared nanoparticles were measured at 0.47, 1.41 and 1.5T with the use of both NMR analyzer and whole body NMR scanner. Longitudinal relaxivities of the obtained silica nanoparticles reveal significant dependence on the confinement mode, changing from 4.1 to 49.6mM-1s-1 at 0.47T when the localization of Gd(III) complexes changes from core to superficial zones of the silica spheres. The results highlight predominant contribution of the complexes located close to silica/water interface to the relaxivity of the nanoparticles. Low effect of blood proteins on the relaxivity in the aqueous colloids of the nanoparticles was exemplified by serum bovine albumin. T1- weighted MRI data indicate that the nanoparticles provide strong positive contrast at 1.5T, which along with low cytotoxicity effect make a good basis for their application as contrast agents.

Extraction of lanthanum and gadolinium(III) at the cloud point using p-sulfonatocalyx[n]arenes as chelating agents

The extraction of gadolinium(III) and lanthanum(III) ions at the cloud point is studied in Triton X100 micellar solutions in a wide range of pH. In the absence of chelating agents, lanthanum(III) and gadolinium(III) ions are unselectively extracted at pH > 6. It is shown that the use of p-sulfonatothiacalyx[6(8)]arenes as chelating agents noticeably enhances the degree of extraction at pH 2–6. The composition and stability of lanthanum-p-sulfonatothiacalyx[n]arene complexes (n = 4, 6, 8) are estimated in a wide range of pH by pH-potentiometry. The degree of Gd3+ and La3+ ions extraction, which is performed at the cloud points employing calyxarene macrocycles of different sizes, is depended on the acidity of a medium.

Solubility, Acid–Base and Complexation Properties of Calix[4]resorcinarene in Aqueous Solutions of Nonionic Surfactants

Solubility and acid–base properties of calix[4]resorcinarene (H8L) in aqueous solutions of nonionic surfactants Triton X-100, Triton X-405, and Brij-35, as well as isopropanol were studied by pH-potentiometry. The dependence of the amount of a nonionic surfactant necessary to dissolve H8L on the length of ethylene oxide chain was found. The dissociation constants of macrocycle for the first four steps are low sensitive to the medium nature (micellar or water–alcohol solutions). Complexation ability of the [H8 – nL]n– anions with respect to tetramethyl- and tetraethylammonium, N-methylpyridinium, and [Co(En)2(C2O4) ]+ cations was studied by pH-potentiometry. A noticeable increase in the selectivity of guest–host binding was found on going from aqueous or water–alcohol to micellar solutions.

Distribution of Gd(III) ions at the graphene oxide/water interface

Graphene oxide (GO) have emerged recently as a novel material for sorbing metal cations from aqueous media. However, the literature data on sorption capacity differ by more than one order in magnitude, and the nature of the chemical bonding between GO and metal cations remains unclear. In this work we show that Gd3+ ions are bound to GO by both coordinate-covalent bonding and electrostatic attraction with prevailing the former. We provide the complete account for the GO sorption toward Gd3+ as the function of the Gd3+/GO ratio and pH of solution. The upper limits of the strong bonding are determined as 0.70 and 0.16 mmol(Gd3+)/g(GO) in the neutral and in the intrinsically acidic solutions, respectively. At large excess of Gd3+ in the neutral solutions, the sorption capacity reaches 1.45 mmol(Gd3+)/g(GO). The effectiveness of water, hydrochloric acid and EDTA as desorbing eluents is compared. We experimentally demonstrate the existence of the Gd3+ concentration gradient within the diffuse layer at the GO/water interface, and its exponential character on the distance from the GO surface. The thickness of the diffuse layer and the position of the slipping plane are estimated. Such characteristics, typical for colloid systems, show that in solutions, GO flakes form distinct phase, even though they are just one atom thick.

New salt structures based on aminomethylated calix[4]-resorcinarenes and (1-hydroxyethane-1,1-diyl)bisphosphonic acid

Aminomethylation of calix[4]resorcinarenes with (1-hydroxyethane-1,1-diyl)bisphosphonic acid afforded a series of new water soluble onium salts.