To understand the complex nanoscale dehydration process during the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) based inverse phase transition of a class of thermoresponsive biopolymers, diblock elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) were investigated by spin probing continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW EPR) spectroscopy. The diblock copolymers composed of a hydrophobic block and a hydro...

The wetting properties of solid surfaces are significant in oil/gas and liquid displacement processes. It is difficult for hydrophobic fluids to permeate channels filled with hydrophilic particles and an aqueous phase, and this is thought to be the primary cause of low yields in low permeability reservoir operations. Using three-dimensional lattice Boltzmann simulations, we show that particles ...

Using time-domain thermoreflectance, we have measured the transport of thermally excited vibrational energy across planar interfaces between water and solids that have been chemically functionalized with a self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The Kapitza length--i.e., the thermal conductivity of water divided by the thermal conductance per unit area of the interface--is analogous to the "slip length...

The influence of pH on the sorption of pentachlorophenol (PCP) onto three organic amendments, char, humic acid (HA) and peat, and the effect of organic amendments on PCP sorption to three kinds of soils were evaluated. The sorption of PCP on these sorbents fitted the Freundlich model well, suggesting that PCP sorption isotherms were nonlinear with exponential coefficient (N) value lower than 1....

Hydrophobic molecules are by definition difficult to hydrate. Previous studies in the area of hydrophobic hydration have therefore often relied on using amphiphilic where hydrophilic part a...

Polymeric micro- and nanogels are defined by their water-swollen hydrophilic networks that can often impart outstanding biocompatibility high-colloidal stability. Unfortunately, this highly nature limits potential in areas where hydrophobic or amphiphilic interactions required, for example, the delivery of cargoes tailored with amphipathic (bio-)surfaces. To overcome limitation, micro?/nanogels...

Polyelectrolyte multilayer films assembled from a hydrophobic N-alkylated polyethylenimine and a hydrophilic polyacrylate were discovered to exhibit strong antifouling, as well as antimicrobial, activities. Surfaces coated with these layer-by-layer (LbL) films, which range from 6 to 10 bilayers (up to 45 nm in thickness), adsorbed up to 20 times less protein from blood plasma than the uncoated ...

Peptide amphiphiles (PAs) are novel engineered biomaterials able to self-assemble into supramolecular systems that have shown significant promise in drug delivery across the cell membane and across challenging biological barriers showing promise in the field of brain diseases, regenerative medicine and cancer. PAs are amino-acid block co-polymers, with a peptide backbone composed usually of 8-3...

Using molecular dynamics simulations, we modeled solvation and diffusion in aqueous solutions of organophosphorous compounds, including nerve G-agents sarin and soman (methylphosphonofluoridates) and their common simulants DMMP (dimethyl methylphosphonate) and DIFP (diisopropyl fluorophosphate). The aqueous solutions of the organophosphorous compounds were found to display complex molecular sca...