The photocatalytic efficiency of a thin-film TiO2-coated nanostructured template is studied by dye degradation in water. The nanostructured template was synthesized by metal-assisted wet etching of Si and used as substrate for the deposition of a thin film of TiO2 (10 nm thick) by atomic layer deposition. A complete structural characterization was made by scanning and transmission electron micr...

INTRODUCTION In recent years there has been a steep increase in the number of orthopedic patients for many reasons. One major reason is osteomyelitis, caused by pyrogenic bacteria, with progressive infection of the bone or bone marrow and surrounding tissues. So antibiotics must be introduced during bone implantation to avoid prolonged infection. AIM The objective of the study reported here w...

Controlled vertical drying deposition method was used to make high-quality single crystal close-packed colloidal films formed of different radii polystyrene latex spheres on glass substrates coming from a low concentration water suspension (0.1% volume fraction). Regardless of the spheres radii the film thickness was about 6.3 microns. However, cracks destroyed the crystalline film structure du...

The effect of adding a hydrocolloid on the structural, mechanical and barrier properties of zein-based blend films is evaluated. Zein-oleic acid blend film with added xanthan gum (Z-OA-XG) showed higher water solubility (13.09%) and opacity (8.49 AU/mm) than zein-oleic acid (Z-OA) film (10.80% and 5.19 AU/mm, respectively). Furthermore, Z-OA film had greater flexibility with lower Young's Modul...

A conductive polymer porous film with tunable wettability and adhesion was fabricated by the chloroform solution of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyricacid-methyl-ester (PCBM) via the freeze drying method. The porous film could be obtained from the solution of 0.8 wt%, whose pore diameters ranged from 50 nm to 500 nm. The hydrophobic porous surface with a water contact an...

A series of designed drug-release systems were prepared and established for clear moisture healing. These systems were designed to have an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) structure, which contained a breathable polyurethane film, hydrocolloidlayer, and polyacrylate adhesive layer. Breathable polyurethane film (2000 g/m(2)/24 hr) with high moisture permeability was employed as a base for ...

Stearic acid was incorporated into whey protein through emulsification to produce films. Whey protein films were prepared by dispersing 6.5% protein in distilled water. Glycerol was the plasticizer agent. Stearic acid was added at different levels (0.0 to 1.0%) and the films were analyzed at different pHs (5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 9.0). The emulsion films were evaluated for mechanical properties, wate...

We report here the electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) from a solution, film, and nanoparticles (NPs) of a red-emitting dithienylbenzothiadiazole molecular fluorophore [4,7-bis(4-(n-hexyl)-5-(3,5-di(1-naphthyl)phenyl)thiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, 1a], which has a donor-acceptor-donor configuration. In addition, the quenching of the fluorescence ...

In this study, inulin (INU) extracted from burdock root was utilized as a new film base material and combined with chitosan (CHI) to prepare composite films. Oregano and thyme essential oils (OT) were incorporated into the INU-CHI film to confer the films with bioactivities. The physical and optical properties as well as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of the films were evaluated. INU ...

Water adsorption on a double-layer silicate film was studied by using infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy, thermal desorption spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy. Under vacuum conditions, small amounts of silanols (Si-OH) could only be formed upon deposition of an ice-like (amorphous solid water, ASW) film and subsequent heating to room temperature. Silanol coverage is consid...